Rose Weasley and the Little Werewolf
by Rainbow169
Summary: Continuing the story started in "The Four Witches," Rose Weasley is now in her 3rd year at Hogwarts.  Joining her are her little cousin Lily and her brother Hugo, along with some other surprises.
1. Bookshop Conversations

Author's Notes

This story continues the tale of Rose Weasley and her friends. Thus, unless you have read "The Four Witches Go to Hogwarts" and "Serena Tippet and the Monster of Slytherin," you will probably be rather confused about this story. As before, I do not own the Harry Potter characters or Hogwarts, although there are some characters in this story who are my creations.

Chapter 1: Bookshop Conversations

After years of waiting, Lily Potter's wish was going to come true. She was going to become a student at Hogwarts, and learn magic just like her brothers! To make this dream of hers come true, she first needed her school supplies, and where else to find them but in Diagon Alley? That is the reason Lily and her brothers were at Flourish and Blotts one hot July day, getting the books they would need for their next year of school. It would also be Hugo Weasley's first year at Hogwarts, and thus he was in the book store as well along with his older sister and parents.

"Look who's here too! Teddy! I'm starting Hogwarts now!" Lily called, noticing that Teddy Lupin was in the store too. He was looking to see if there was a section for teaching materials, as he was going to be starting work that September as Hogwarts' new Divination teacher. Along with him was Scorpius Malfoy, who had been staying with Teddy's grandmother Andromeda Tonks that summer.

"I know, Lily. I'm looking forward to seeing all of you when I start teaching," Teddy agreed.

"I signed up to take Divination. Did anyone else? I think it sounds interesting. I don't think I'm really a Seer myself, but that and Muggle Studies are the electives I thought I would like to study the most. I hope I can prove to Professor McAngus that I don't hate muggles like my evil father if I take her class," Scorpius said, sounding rather determined.

"I hope you can too. Galaxy and I are also taking Muggle Studies, so we can help you if Professor McAngus is unfair to you," Rose said, trying to be reassuring.

"Maybe she's not being unfair. Maybe I deserve to have her hate me," Scorpius sighed. Suddenly, a boy Lily's age with blond hair popped out from behind one of the shelves, pointing a rectangular device at Scorpius's face.

"How interesting!" the boy exclaimed, "You have a perfect example of Upper Received Pronunciation!"

"But I don't remember receiving a...do you mean a proclamation? I don't have one," Scorpius said, completely confused. He recognized the boy as being Lorcan Scamander, as they had met last year at the World Cup, but otherwise, Scorpius had no idea what this "Upper Received Pronunciation" was.

"Not a proclamation, I mean pronunciation! I mean you have an extremely aristocratic and posh accent," Lorcan clarified.

"But I hate myself! I'm not a snob, but...maybe I am! I'm cursed to be an evil snobby Malfoy! I deserve to be punished for being a snob!" Scorpius wailed, and he threw himself on the floor and began hitting himself in the head with a book.

"I didn't say you were a snob. Why are you hitting yourself like that? I just want to get a recording of your accent," Lorcan said. It was his turn to be confused, as he didn't understand why his newest subject of linguistic study was having such an outburst.

"Because there are people who hate him for his family, and he takes what they say seriously," Rose explained, and then she knelt down to Scorpius and gently but firmly took the book out of his hand. "Please stop hitting yourself. I don't think Lorcan meant to call you a snob, and I don't think you're that way at all."

"But you SHOULD be a snob. You have every right to feel that you are superior to the riff-raff you associate with. In fact, you shouldn't be associating with people like that at all," a horribly familiar voice butted in. Pansy Parkinson was standing nearby, with a disapproving look at Scorpius.

"They're NOT inferior! They're better than me! The Weasleys and the Potters are the most wonderful people in the world!" Scorpius declared as he literally jumped to defend his favorite heroes. Unfortunately, he tried to stand up to face Pansy too quickly, and he ended up tripping and falling down again.

"How far the noble have fallen. Well, maybe you will have changed your mind for the better when I see you next in school, Malfoy," Pansy replied coolly. She turned to leave, but Scorpius grabbed the bottom of her robes.

"No! I will NEVER change that! The Weasleys and Potters are my HEROES! They are the noble ones, not me!" he snarled.

"Get your filthy little blood-traitor hands off of me," Pansy hissed, yanking her robes away from him, and she quickly stepped out of Scorpius's reach. She then was able to leave this time, although that didn't stop Scorpius from shouting one last retort.

"I'm proud to be a blood-traitor! Blood doesn't mean anything, it's being a good person that counts! And you and my father are EVIL!" he screamed.

"I'm glad he's so talkative. I've been getting a very good sample of his aristocratic accent on here," Lorcan grinned. He had been watching the whole time, keeping his enchanted recording device pointed at Scorpius.

"You should apologize to him. You should ask people if they want to be recorded first, it's rather rude to record someone's voice without his or her permission," Rose scolded.

"Aww, but I get better data this way. When people don't know I'm recording them, they speak more naturally and don't hide their real accents as much," Lorcan pouted.

"Could you at least apologize to Scorpius for calling him a snob? I know you didn't intend it that way, but he's very sensitive about people thinking he's like the other Malfoys," Rose explained.

"But I didn't do anything wrong! I just told him what his accent is!" Lorcan protested.

"He doesn't need to apologize to me. No one should have to apologize to me. I don't deserve it," Scorpius whimpered, "Please don't punish him for telling the truth."

"Now I definitely know he's not at all like the other Malfoys. I take back what I said, Rose, you can get as close to him as you like," Ron commented.

"Why didn't you believe him before? Like when we visited Hogwarts 2 years ago and he said he admired you and you made him kiss your feet. Why did you think he was lying?" Lily asked innocently.

"I guess it's because of Weasley is Our King," Ron answered, "It was a song Draco made up to insult my Quidditch playing back when we were at Hogwarts together. I thought Scorpius was being sarcastic when he said he admired me and Hermione, since I just couldn't believe that a Malfoy would say something like that sincerely."

"My evil father did WHAT?! I watched you playing Quidditch in the yard when I visited at Christmas and you play very well! How could he even THINK you're a poor Quidditch player?!" Scorpius exclaimed, horrified, "You're better than I could ever hope to be!"

"I don't know, Uncle Ron, that's not much of a compliment coming from someone who can't stay on a broom for more than two seconds without falling off," James smirked.

"I didn't mean it that way! I really DO think that you're a good Quidditch player, I mean it! My evil father was probably jealous when he made up that song!" Scorpius protested.

"Well, thank you, Scorpius," Ron chuckled, "You're just surprising me more and more, and I mean that in a good way."

"Can we get my books now?" Lily blurted out impatiently as Scorpius whimpered something that sounded like "I don't deserve to be praised like that."

"Sure, let's go get Hugo's too. Teddy, Scorpius, do you want to come with us or go look on your own?" Ron offered.

"How about I show him the Divination books? Do you want to come look too?" Teddy asked, specifically talking to Rose and Albus, who were also starting their 3rd year.

"No, I'm not taking Divination, but I think Albus is. Go on, Al, it's always important to look at your books ahead of time," Rose said, sounding very much like her mother. After Albus, Scorpius and Teddy left to look at the Divination books, Hugo had a question too.

"Can I get a pet too? Lily has that dog now, but I don't think I want a dog. I want something scarier that can attack my enemies," he grinned.

"I don't think you're allowed to have your pet attack people, but we can take you to the Magical Menagerie after we're done here," Hermione told him.

"Can I get a big tarantula and scare Dad with it?" Hugo joked.

"Of course not! I know you LIKE spiders, but your father and I are the ones buying the pet, and we want to make sure that everyone in the family will get along with your pet, including Rose's Pygmy Puff, so no getting anything that eats those," Hermione warned, "It's not just with your pet, it's more that we already went through issues with our pets not getting along when we were your age and we don't want to have that happen again."

"You could get an owl or a cat. They're both animals that hunt, so they could be scary sometimes but I know they wouldn't eat Pygmy Puffs," Lily piped up, "I mean, if you're looking for a predatory animal, Hugo, instead of one that is usually prey."

"That's true, and I could use an owl to send letters so I wouldn't have to borrow the school ones," Hugo thought, "Let's get our books and then I can get an owl!"


	2. Severus and Lily Again

Chapter 2: Severus and Lily Again

It wasn't long before the thing Lily had been wishing for finally came true. At last, she was going to Hogwarts, this time as an official student! She started to follow her brothers as they all got on the train, but then she was disappointed as they both went separate ways, James following David and Albus heading off with Bunny.

"Don't worry about them. You're going to Hogwarts and that's what counts. Who wants to play with a thief and a wimp, anyway?" Rebecca scoffed, "You'll make lots of new friends at Hogwarts and you won't have to cling to your brothers all the time."

"What's wrong with me wanting to be with my brothers? I know James annoys you, and he CAN be mean sometimes, but I still love him and Albus. Just because you hate your family it doesn't mean everyone else does!" Lily shot back, upset at the way Rebecca had just insulted her brothers. True, James did seem to have a bad habit of stealing things, and Albus WAS a bit too timid sometimes, but they were still her beloved brothers.

"It's okay. You can find them at Hogwarts, even if you're not in either of their houses. Rebecca and I are in different houses but we play together in the Recreation Room all the time. But I understand how you feel. I hate it when my cousin Daisy ignores me too," said Severus, who was with Rebecca as usual. Lily stared at him in surprise, forgetting about her brothers for the moment.

"Daisy? You mean Daisy Puff? You look like Severus Snape just like she does! Are you ANOTHER cousin of his?" she exclaimed, still amazed that someone who had died over 20 years ago could have cousins who were so close to her own age.

"He's actually my cousin on both sides. His dad is my mum's brother and his mum is MY dad's sister. I'm Severus Prince, and I hope we can be friends. I thought James was going to be my friend, but then he was so cruel to Scorpius and I don't want to hate him but he really shouldn't have been stealing Polyjuice Potion AND he did it twice," Severus babbled, "But I don't hate your brother, really, he's funny sometimes too but he gets Gryffindor in trouble a lot."

"That sounds like James, he always gets into trouble at home too," Lily agreed, "Look, that compartment's just got one person in it!" She opened the compartment door, revealing Melissa Blips, who was alternately reading her Potions textbook and gazing lovingly at a photo of Severus Snape.

"I guess we could go in there," Severus said, although Lily thought he seemed oddly nervous for someone who was usually eager to make friends with everyone. Rebecca pushed Lily in first ahead of her, and then Severus entered after the girls, taking a seat next to Rebecca, who had plunked down right across from Melissa. Melissa looked up, a big smile spreading across her face.

"History is repeating itself...Severus and Lily...I apologize, Sevvie-kins. I should never have tried to take you away from your true love," Melissa gushed.

"Isn't it kind of soon for Lily to be my true love? I just met her today," Severus said, now even more confused. Melissa stared at Lily more closely, and then she gasped dramatically.

"The reincarnation went all wrong! Lily does not have her eyes anymore! No wonder you couldn't recognize her! But I'm sure she is your Lily, the one you betrayed Voldemort for!" Melissa declared.

"I still have my eyes! What in the world are you talking about? What reincarnation?" Lily exclaimed, starting to get annoyed at Melissa's strange behavior.

"I don't understand it either. Why do you think Lily doesn't have her eyes anymore? Her eyes are on her face, right? Please don't make fun of her for having those scars on her face, if that's what you're talking about," Severus said. He was beginning to wonder if Melissa had truly gone insane in her love for his dead cousin.

"You don't think I'm my grandma Lily, do you? Is that what you mean? I've heard that before, people are surprised that I don't have green eyes like she did," Lily said, realizing what Melissa might have been referring to.

"Yes! That's exactly it! I thought for sure you were Lily Evans reincarnated, but you don't look nearly as much like she did as Severus looks like his wonderful namesake cousin," Melissa explained.

"I get that you thought I was my grandma because we have the same name, but why would I be in love with Severus? I mean, he seems nice so far, but I just met him a few minutes ago, like he said," Lily said.

"Because Sevvie-kins was in love with Lily Evans. I can't believe you're her granddaughter and you don't know about that! It was the most beautiful love ever, only to be crushed by that arrogant, hateful man, James Potter!" Melissa declared.

"Are you calling my grandfather hateful? What did he ever do to you?" Lily demanded.

"He hated my Sevvie-poo, that's what! I can't forgive anyone for being an enemy of my Sevvie-kins!" Melissa exclaimed passionately.

"I thought you wanted to have Snape for yourself. Would you REALLY be content to let Lily Evans have him?" Rebecca smirked.

"Well, I'd want him to be happy so he could have his true love. It would be the romantic and noble thing to do," Melissa argued.

"But if my cousin married Lily Evans, then my hero Harry Potter would never have been born! Or are you saying that he would still be born, but he would be Harry Snape and he'd be related to me and would he have been the Boy Who Lived and...you're confusing my head!" Severus protested, trying to make sense of Melissa's suggestion that Snape and Lily Evans should've been married.

"Oh, who cares about the timeline! I just wish my Sevvie-kins had been with his true love so he could've been happier!" Melissa gushed.

"Would you really like Snape if he was happy?" Rebecca suddenly asked.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't I want my Sevvie-kins to be happy?" Melissa wondered, now just as confused as Severus.

"Because you talk about how much you love his scowl and that he's dark and brooding, which doesn't sound happy to me. Weren't you scolding Severus here for being too cheerful and friendly and that he should scold people more? You told me you wanted him to be friendly only to you and cold to others," Rebecca pointed out. Melissa paused, staring at Rebecca, thinking this over.

"I don't know...you're right...that darker part of him is what makes him attractive to me. That if he was truly happy, he would lose that...I never thought about that, he wouldn't be a tragic hero if he had a happy ending," Melissa realized.

"So you like spooky stories and things like that, right?" Rebecca asked her suddenly.

"Well, yes. It's not just Sevvie-poo, I like other kinds of stories like that. Not that I would ever want to use the Dark Arts, but I do think mysterious and dark creatures and people are so interesting," Melissa agreed.

"Did you know that Lily here is a werewolf?" Rebecca announced.

"Yeah, I knew that already. She came with Mr. Potter to talk to our Defense Against the Dark Arts class two years ago," Melissa answered, sounding surprised that Rebecca would think that was new information.

"You didn't tell me about that? You never told me you got to go to Hogwarts early!" Rebecca burst out at Lily, jealousy apparent in her voice. She jumped up, shoving both Severus and Melissa aside as she lunged at Lily, now suddenly raging. "How dare you! How dare you get to go early! YOU AND YOUR BROTHERS ALWAYS GET TO DO THINGS AND I DON'T!"

"Please stop, Rebecca! Please don't attack her over that!" Severus pleaded, trying to pull Rebecca off of Lily, who was first shocked, and then she became angry too.

"You get to do plenty of things! I don't know what you're talking about, but I didn't do anything to YOU! Dad and I were only trying to teach people about werewolves!" she snapped back at Rebecca, who brushed Severus off.

"You wouldn't understand! All of you! None of you understand what it's like to wish your parents were magical! None of you understand what it's like to have a father who thinks you're a monster!" Rebecca lashed out, first at Severus and Melissa and then turning back to Lily, who she shoved against the compartment wall, "YOUR PARENTS ARE HEROES! YOU CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND!"

"Please don't attack Lily! I can kind of understand, but please don't hurt people. Then they'll really think you're a monster," Severus continued to plead.

"How could YOU understand? Your father is a wizard," Rebecca snapped at him, though she also sounded curious and had calmed down a little bit.

"True, but my mother is a muggle, just like your parents. My Uncle Tobias doesn't like me for being magical either, but it might be because he hates that I look like the other Severus, and Daisy's brother Leslie also hates me for being a wizard. I know what it's like to have relatives who don't understand, but I don't hate them," Severus said gently, taking Rebecca's hand.

"Why don't you? They hate you, you have every right to hate them back," Rebecca said.

"Because I can forgive them. I understand that they are scared, that's what Cream said, she's Daisy's older sister and she helped me. I was scared of Leslie at first, but then she explained that HE'S the one who's scared of magic and she taught me that what he and Tobias need isn't hatred, but love. If I show them I love them and that I want to be their friend, then they might learn not to hate magic and that it's not always something scary," Severus explained.

"You and Scorpius, you're two of a kind, aren't you?" Rebecca sighed, "I guess I shouldn't have attacked Lily. I love her and her brothers and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny, but sometimes I get so jealous of the world they live in, and I just hate it when I miss out on things..." She trailed off and sat back in her seat sullenly.

"I may have visited Hogwarts, but I haven't gone to the classes yet aside from the ones I went to with Dad. Could you tell me about the classes, Rebecca?" Lily asked, "That's something you got to do before me." Rebecca wasn't the only one who could tell Lily about Hogwarts classes, and soon the atmosphere in their compartment lightened considerably as the four of them discussed Hogwarts and what would await them in the coming year.


	3. Sorting and Surprises

Chapter 3: Sorting and Surprises

It wasn't very long until the train pulled up to the station and everyone got off. Lily was rather disappointed when Rebecca, Severus and Melissa left her to go on the carriages with the older students, but she was quickly distracted by a familiar voice.

"Hello, Lily! I brought my new recorder along and got lots of interesting accents on the train. There's even a new American girl in our year!" Lorcan Scamander blurted out, coming up from behind Lily with his twin brother, Lysander.

"I've never met any Americans before! What's she like?" Lily asked him eagerly as they followed Hagrid to the boats. She, Lorcan, Lysander and another boy she didn't know got on the boat together.

"Disappointingly quiet," Lorcan sighed, "I wish she had talked more. Not like that sample I got of Scorpius at the bookshop. I heard people say that Americans are loud and talkative, but she wasn't like that at all."

"I think it's boring to expect everyone to fit stereotypes about where they're from," Lysander said.

"I don't care about her fitting a stereotype! I just wanted her to talk more so I could get a better recording of her accent," Lorcan pouted.

"Maybe you scared 'er. I 'ope you read all your books. You should be doing that rather than recording people's voices," the other boy said bossily.

"You're from Manchester! I can tell!" Lorcan exclaimed, and he pulled his recorder out of his robes again.

"Put that away. You don't want to drop it in the lake," the Manchester-accented boy said, still using a bossy tone that Lily found oddly familiar.

"I'm not going to DROP it! Why do you have a problem with my recorder?" Lorcan demanded.

"I don't. I just don't want you dropping that and dumping the boat trying to get it back," the boy snapped.

"What's your name? You seem kind of familiar to me," Lily spoke up, "I'm Lily Potter."

"I'm Zircon Birch. Why would I be familiar to you? I've never met you before," Zircon asked, surprised by Lily's statement.

"I know, it's just that you remind me of my Aunt Hermione, at least a little bit. And you have the same eye color as my dad and brother," Lily explained, referring to the fact that Zircon had green eyes.

"Your dad is 'Arry Potter, right? I read about him in some of my books," Zircon said.

"Yeah, he's pretty famous. I like hearing the stories about his adventures, especially about the amazing creatures he got to meet," Lily said happily.

"You should come with Mum and Dad and us sometime, if you like to meet interesting creatures. Mum studies them for her job, and we've visited lots of places. That's what got Lorcan so interested in speech and accents, because he liked hearing how people from different places talk," Lysander commented. It wasn't very long until the boats pulled up near the castle, and the first years were all led inside to be sorted. Inside the castle, the older students were already waiting in the Great Hall, and Rose was rather curious as to where her brother and cousin were going to be sorted. Part of her hoped that Hugo would get in Gryffindor, mainly because she was afraid of what her father might do if he found out that neither of his children were going to be in his favorite old house. She watched as Amanda brought the Sorting Hat and stool out to the front of the hall. Early on in the sorting, Zircon Birch, the boy Lily had met earlier, was sorted into Gryffindor.

"Jade Gorgok! Ravenclaw!" Ruby Gorgok's little sister had come to Hogwarts too, and she joined Rose at the Ravenclaw table. A little over halfway through the sorting, Lily's name was finally called. She grinned excitedly as she put the hat on her head.

"So you're another Potter. You know, I could put you in Gryffindor, you're certainly brave enough for it. But what's this? You have a thirst for learning that the other Potters didn't have," the hat said inside Lily's head.

"What does that mean? Does that mean I might be in Ravenclaw with Rose?" Lily whispered to the hat. She wouldn't really mind that, she felt she would be okay with being in any of the houses. There were family members she was close to in all four houses, so wherever she went, Lily wasn't afraid of being lonely. What she really was excited about, was what the hat had said to her. It was true, she was very eager to learn, especially about things that were new and exciting, about strange new creatures who she could befriend.

"Yes. I'll put you in...RAVENCLAW!" the hat called, and Lily ran over to sit between her cousins, Lucy and Rose. Rose smiled as her little cousin joined her, but she was more concerned with her brother. Where would Hugo be sorted? If he wasn't in Gryffindor, would Dad be angry? Would he blame her for letting her brother go astray from the Gryffindor path, that old Weasley family tradition that was breaking up with this generation.

Soon after Lily, the Scamander twins were sorted, with Lorcan joining his mother's old Ravenclaw house and Lysander going into Hufflepuff. And towards the end of the sorting was the one Rose was most worried about.

"Hugo Weasley!" Hugo strode up and looked rather smug as the hat was place over his head. Rose watched nervously, it seemed to her that it was taking an awfully long time. Then, the hat spoke.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Oh no," Rose moaned, "Dad is going to kill me. Or him. Or both of us."

"Why would Uncle Ron kill you? I know he doesn't like Slytherin, but that's no reason to kill someone. Uncle Ron isn't evil," Lily said innocently.

"Not REALLY kill us. But I'm sure he's going to send Hugo a Howler over it. And I'm sure I'll be mentioned, he's going to blame me for setting a bad example and giving Hugo the idea that he could go into a house other than Gryffindor," Rose worried.

"I can fix that. Just give me the word and I'll make sure Uncle Ron doesn't even dare to send even an angry letter," Lucy smirked.

"What do you mean? You wouldn't play a cruel prank on my Dad, would you? Because if it involves one of your pranks..." Rose trailed off, hoping Lucy wouldn't use this as an opportunity to cause even more trouble than she usually did. And there was the matter of when Lucy and Molly were staying at Rose's house over the summer, there had been that time in the morning when Lucy was looking all triumphant and smirking and Ron had been using the loo. Rose realized what Lucy meant.

"You wouldn't. You wouldn't do such a thing," Rose whispered in horror.

"I would. If your dad dares to scold you and Hugo over something as stupid as house sorting, I'll get a picture of him naked in the Daily Prophet," Lucy snickered, "Or I might just do that anyway."

"You do that and I'm telling Professor Sprite," Rose hissed.

"I'd like to see HER punish someone, she's a pushover," Lucy shot back, sticking her tongue out, "You're not a prefect, Rose-posie, you can't scare me." Before Rose could respond, the door of the Great Hall slammed open.

"It's Bellatrix Lestrange! Kill her! Put her in prison! SOMEONE STOP HER!" Amber screamed when she saw the newcomer. Indeed, the newcomer did look surprisingly like Bellatrix, with her long, rather wild black hair and heavy-lidded eyes, and her robes were disheveled, giving her a bit of a look of insanity.

"That's not Bellatrix, Amber. Everyone, I would like you to welcome our new Charms professor, Belinda Christopher," Samantha Rain announced, and then she gestured towards a young man with turquoise hair who was also sitting at the staff table. "And this is Teddy Lupin, our new Divination professor."

"Do you think Bellatrix had a long-lost relative or something? Because Professor McAngus is right, she DOES look like Bellatrix," Lucy wondered aloud as Belinda took a seat at the staff table, Amber still glaring at her from the opposite end.

"I don't know. She could just happen to look similar. I guess someone could ask her or I could write my parents. They might know something because they had to deal with Bellatrix and the Death Eaters a lot when they were fighting Voldemort," Rose answered.

"I hope she has an interesting accent. Do any of the professors here have interesting accents?" Lorcan asked, addressing Rose as he was seated opposite her at the table.

"Well, Professor Hagrid does, and you just heard Professor McAngus, she's Scottish. I think Professor O'Blarney and Professor Flannery are Irish, and they have accents from those places. But Professor O'Blarney's class is the only one you would be allowed to take until your third year. I don't know much about accents unless they're noticeable, though," Rose answered him, "But please don't record our professors without their permission. They might get upset at you and take points off from you."

"Not even if I used it for studying? I just thought of that, I could use this to record lessons and listen to them. Then I would only have to take notes on things that are written on the board," Lorcan realized with a grin.

"You should ask if that's allowed first. But I guess you could use it to study if you were allowed to. I'm still going to take notes, though. It's weird. It's almost like physically writing the notes helps me learn better. I wish I could just memorize the books and not have to write the words out myself. Mum was always better than me at memorizing," Rose sighed.

"Well, we're Ravenclaws. I'm sure we'll both do well," Lorcan bragged, "And I'm looking forward to learning a lot here at Hogwarts."


	4. Amber's Grudge

Chapter 4: Amber's Grudge

Rose sat down to lunch on Monday, bringing her textbooks with her. She had started off her 3rd year with History of Magic that morning. Professor Creevey had started off by telling everyone that the 3rd years were scheduled to study recent history, mostly involving the war against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Rose had privately wondered if Uncle Harry or her own parents would come into class to say anything, something she wasn't sure if she would be happy or embarrassed about. After lunch would be Muggle Studies, which was taught by Amber McAngus. It was for that reason that Rose was not at the Ravenclaw table, but sitting with Scorpius and Galaxy at the Gryffindor table.

"So why are you eating with us? I mean, I like to talk to you, of course, but it seems like you're scared of something. Did you hear about something scary in history class?" Galaxy asked innocently.

"No, it's how Professor McAngus is going to behave as a teacher. It's not even just that she seems to hate Scorpius, she just seems rather unstable. She's so quick to accuse people of being evil and..." Rose trailed off, tears forming in her eyes.

"But it makes sense that she thinks I'm evil. I just have to prove to her that I'm not evil by taking her class. My evil father would NEVER have wanted to take Muggle Studies. But she might think I'm taking it to learn how to oppress muggles, but I don't want to do that and I'll tell her I'm not but she might not believe me but I can't run away!" Scorpius blurted out rather quickly and nervously.

"It's not just you. What if she hates ME?" Rose whispered, more frightened than Galaxy had ever seen her before, "What if she thinks I'm a traitor to my family? What if she hates me for letting my brother get into Slytherin? What if my father hates me? He still hasn't responded to my owl but I'm sure to get a Howler saying that I'm a disgrace to the Weasley family any day now."

"But why would anyone blame YOU for Hugo being in Slytherin? You didn't put him there, the Sorting Hat did. And your parents aren't that cruel, they wouldn't punish you over that kind of thing," Galaxy said, trying to be reassuring but also rather confused as to why Rose was feeling this way.

"Because he might think I gave Hugo the idea that he could be something different than a Gryffindor. I'm sure he was hoping that at least one of us would go there, and he HATES Slytherin," Rose moaned.

"You can't blame him for hating Slytherin after the way people like my evil father treated him," Scorpius sighed.

"I know that, and I also know that Hugo likes to do the opposite of what Dad tells him to do, but I didn't think he'd go as far as to get sorted into Slytherin," Rose said.

"Aww, I don't think we should worry about that now. I'm excited for Muggle Studies, even though Professor McAngus isn't very nice. I've seen the things like computers and cars that Dad showed me, because he's a muggle and I'd like to learn about them. Muggles use them to go on trips and explore and have adventures!" Galaxy giggled.

"Do you think that even I could learn how to drive a car?" Scorpius asked.

"Sure you could! It might be easier for you than flying a broom because it doesn't fly, so you don't have to worry about falling," Galaxy said cheerfully, "I know they can crash but you're more protected because you're inside the car so you can't fall off like with a broom."

"Cars are more complicated to operate, though," Rose said, "But if you want to learn how to drive, Scorpius, that might be a good skill to learn. My dad learned how to drive and he's from a wizard family too."

"Maybe he could even teach me!" Scorpius said excitedly. With that happier thought, lunch ended soon, and the three of them headed for their first Muggle Studies class. When they arrived, they noticed that David Longbottom and Electra O'Blarney were taking the class too.

"Malfoy?! What are YOU doing in this class?!" Electra exclaimed in disbelief.

"Because I want to learn about muggles. Something my father would never want to do," Scorpius replied defiantly.

"Maybe you want to kill them with their own machines," David sneered.

"I don't want to kill innocent muggles! I don't want to hurt them at all! I just want to learn about them!" Scorpius shouted, starting to cry again.

"Quiet, Malfoy," snapped Amber as she entered the room, slamming the door behind her with a loud bang that made several people jump in their seats. Scorpius sat down, looking like he was torn between being meek in Amber's prescence and continuing his argument with David and Electra.

"It's not his fault! David and Electra were being mean to him!" Galaxy protested.

"He deserves it, and I'll prove he does. I'll teach all of you what muggles and muggleborns have suffered at the wands of the Death Eaters," Amber declared, "But first of all, a test. I want to know what you know already."

"I know muggles have fireworks too! Can we set some off in here?" David blurted out.

"Maybe we can," Amber said, suddenly turning indulgent and kind, "For students I trust specially, I could have a demonstration of muggle fireworks and weapons, but only outdoors. But before that, I have some questions of my own to ask." Her demeanor switched back to stern again as she pointed her wand at Scorpius. "Malfoy! Can you define what bits and bytes are?"

"Are they pieces someone has bitten off of food? I'm sorry, I don't know and I should know but I just don't and I should've read more and..." Scorpius babbled, frightened that he was already failing the class.

"It's what his pet snake does to muggleborns!" guffawed David.

"It probably does, doesn't it, David?" Amber said sweetly, and then she snapped back to angry again. "No! They are NOT! Second question. What is the purpose of a battery?"

"I don't know that either and it sounds like it has to do with food too but it probably doesn't and I'm SO SORRY! I'M SO STUPID AND EVIL AND CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT!" Scorpius screamed, and he began beating his head on the desk in an act of self-punishment.

"Please stop, Professor McAngus! I don't know any of the answers either but I'm sure there's someone besides Scorpius who can answer, so stop picking on him!" Galaxy blurted out.

"Silence, Baghill. I was trying to make a point. The point is that the Malfoys are NOT superior, no matter how much they think they are. In fact, they are all ignorant, arrogant little Death Eaters-in-training who think they are too good to learn about muggle technology on their own. Not like the Weasleys, who are proper examples of what wizards should be like," Amber ranted.

"But Scorpius doesn't think he's better than everyone! He hates himself! Why are you so blind to what you're doing to him?! He's NOT like the other Malfoys!" Galaxy retorted, jumping out of her seat in anger.

"You are the blind one, poor little Galaxy. You do not see how he is fooling you with his sneaky lies. You need to stop associating with people like that before he gets your poor muggle father killed," Amber said. While Amber was arguing with Galaxy, Rose, who was sitting next to Scorpius, went over to him and gently blocked him from beating his head on the desk. In response, he began sobbing on her shoulder as she tried to calm him down.

"He wouldn't kill Dad! Why do you hate him so much?! He never did anything to you!" Galaxy protested. Amber was about to retort to her when she saw Rose and Scorpius embracing.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Amber shrieked, lunging at them and violently throwing Scorpius off of Rose. "Get your filthy Death Eater hands off of her! You do not DARE to touch Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger's daughter!"

"Please, Professor, I...I was trying to comfort him. He wasn't hurting me," Rose whimpered.

"Do you want to know what the Death Eaters like him did to me?! They did THIS to me!" Amber raged, yanking the arm of her robe up. It was very clear that there was a scar on her arm from where the word "mudblood" had been carved into the skin.

"But Scorpius isn't a Death Eater! There aren't any more Death Eaters!" Galaxy shot back.

"Shut up, you deluded girl. Malfoy here is a Death Eater in disguise. I'm sure he's planning to use the muggles' own technology to oppress and kill them! Weasley! You and I will take him to Professor Rain's office and expose his evil plans!" Amber declared. She stormed out the door, dragging Scorpius along roughly by the arm. Rose hurried to follow, unsure what Amber was planning to do. She didn't think that Professor Rain would share Amber's delusions that Scorpius was a Death Eater wannabe, but she still didn't know what would happen to Scorpius or to herself. She also wasn't sure what was going to happen with the rest of the class, since Amber had left everyone without telling them she was ending class or giving any instructions on what to study for the next class. She just followed Amber and Scorpius as they went to the headmistress's office and Amber stated the password to the gargoyle.


	5. Blame

Chapter 5: Blame

Samantha Rain looked up from her desk when she heard the pounding on her door. She was surprised, since it was still during a class time.

"Please come in. It sounds like an emergency, especially at this time of day," Samantha said, opening the door with her wand. Amber stormed into the office, still dragging Scorpius behind her. Rose followed, looking nervous. She knew that Professor Rain was fair and that she probably wouldn't be scolded, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that she had done something wrong.

"This boy is a spy. You must expel him immediately!" Amber demanded. She let go of Scorpius and he immediately crumpled to the floor, whimpering and curled in a ball.

"A spy? For what? What did he do that made you think he was suspicious?" Samantha asked, sounding both surprised and skeptical.

"He's a Malfoy! What more do you want?! He infiltrated my class to learn about muggles so he could kill and oppress them!" Amber accused.

"Amber, I understand what this boy's father and the Death Eaters put you through. But being a Malfoy is not a crime. I have told you again and again, do not take your anger out on the students. That is why I specially had that punching bag charmed to look like whoever you are angry at put in your office, so you would have an outlet that does not harm anyone. Unless you have more proof than just 'he's a Malfoy,' you are the one who may not stay at Hogwarts much longer," Samantha said, finishing with a stern warning. Rose shrunk back instinctively, the way she did when any of her professors were giving a scolding, even if it wasn't directed at her.

"Me?! You can't be serious! You're going to punish ME?! You were tortured and imprisoned too! You know what they're like!" Amber burst out in disbelief.

"I know what the Death Eaters were like," Samantha sighed, "That does not mean their children are to blame for what their parents did. That was before Scorpius was even born, how could he have anything to do with it? You yourself should know what that feels like, to be hated for who your parents were."

"But...he's brainwashing you! That's it! Scorpius must have a spell cast on the school that makes people believe his lies!" Amber spluttered frantically.

"Enough! You are delusional. I cannot have someone who is delusional here. You were hired to teach Muggle Studies, and you have not done that. I understand that you want people to know what happened to you, but we already have a history teacher here, and that is not you. Muggle Studies is not meant to be 'Amber rants about everything and everyone she hates' class. I made allowances for you last year because I thought you might learn better, but I was sadly mistaken," Samantha continued.

"But he's brainwashing you! Look at him! He looks just like Draco! He IS Draco! Draco must have put a spell on himself to make himself look younger so he could come back to Hogwarts and..."

"ENOUGH! Get out, Amber McAngus. I will meet you in your office in an hour. If you are not there, then I will search for you. Unless you can prove to me that you deserve to stay on as our Muggle Studies professor within that hour, I would suggest packing," Samantha ordered. Scorpius let out a wail.

"You don't have to do this for me! She's going to hate me and it's my fault I got her fired and I deserve to have her torture me and put me in Azkaban because I'm evil!" he sobbed.

"It's not just you, she's had problems with mistreating other students," Samantha sighed again, speaking as if Amber wasn't still in the room. "Besides accusing Scorpius of being a spy, what else did she do? Did she actually teach you anything about muggle society or techonology?"

"No, she didn't," Rose admitted nervously, "She asked some questions but just to Scorpius and then started accusing him of being a Death Eater spy."

"Well he is! And you need to get rid of all the Slytherins and anyone whose parents were Death Eaters! I'm sure their parents poisoned them and their blood is poisoned too and they inherited the evil!" Amber blurted out.

"I told you to leave," Samantha said coolly.

"You were gone! I DID teach them about Muggle Studies! Amanda Quigley was lying! You can't trust her, she's a Slytherin!" Amber protested, starting to cry.

"I saw the test results. Those do not lie. The only ones who even had a chance at passing were those who had prior knowledge of the subject. Especially when you neglect to even assign a textbook," Samantha replied coldly. She then softened a bit and looked at Rose. "You may leave if you like, both of you." Rose took Scorpius's arm gently.

"How can you do that?" Amber whispered, sounding horrified.

"What do you mean, Professor McAngus?" Rose asked, although she hoped it wasn't what she thought it was.

"Treat him like that. Don't you know what his father did to your parents? HOW CAN YOU NOT HATE HIM?!" she screamed, causing Rose to jump involuntarily.

"He's not his father. He didn't do the things his father did. He's innocent," Rose said softly, terrified what Amber might do to her but she still wanted to say it, and a strange confidence filled her as she spoke, similar to the confidence she had when she scolded her cousins or brother when they were misbehaving. She just was sick of people judging Scorpius for what his father did, especially when she knew how hard he tried to prove he wasn't like the other Malfoys, and how little he even seemed to believe his own protests, hating himself and almost believing their accusations of being "evil."

"You're brainwashed," Amber hissed.

"I'm sorry, Professor McAngus," Rose whimpered instinctively as her confidence dropped again.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Rose. You and Scorpius should just leave, I'm sure you have things to read or assignments to work on. There was no need for you to be brought here under false accusations," Samantha sighed. Rose nodded meekly and was able to lead Scorpius out of the room this time, lifting him up on her back, with Amber staring at them in shock. Once they had made it down the hallway, Rose stopped and let go of Scorpius's hand.

"What do you want to do now? Would you like to go to the library? We could read some of the book Professor Creevey assigned us. Uncle Harry is in it, I know you like reading about him. Or we could see if the library has any books on Muggle Studies. I know you did want to learn something about that," Rose said gently, hoping she could find something that would distract Scorpius from his self-hatred. "Or we could go to the Recreation Room or we could just go to our common rooms. I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to."

"I do want to go to the library," Scorpius managed to say, his tears finally beginning to stop. "I did want to learn about muggles so I could know about them and maybe be friends but I don't think they would want to have someone like me as a friend because I'm evil but I know that it's something no one else in my family would've even wanted to do." Rose nodded quietly and they went off to the library. Rose wondered how long it would take before Samantha was able to find a replacement for Amber, although she hoped it would be soon. In the library, they saw some other students, ones who didn't have a class at this time or next. Rose was about to look for Madame Pince to see if they could find any books on muggle technology when she noticed Scorpius was staring into one of the aisles. Rose noticed he was looking at Rigel Green and Daisy Puff, who were looking at a big book together. Both of them had been victims of the thestral attacks last year, and Scorpius had even tried to protect Rigel, though he was not successful.

"Don't blame yourself. You did what you could to protect Rigel. It would've been hard to fight something you couldn't see," Rose said, hoping this wouldn't start Scorpius off on another round of self-blame for things he couldn't control.

"I'm just relieved neither of them were killed. Like...like Professor Sanders was," Scorpius whimpered. He then was startled as Rigel stared back at him and got up. Daisy stared too, and then rolled her eyes at Scorpius before turning back to the book.

"I never got t' chance to thank thee. For trying to protect me from t' thestral," Rigel stated quietly.

"But I wasn't able to do it! I wasn't able to stop Libra from hurting you or stop her from killing Professor Sanders! And if I had never believed Andromeda's fake note, he...he might still be alive!" Scorpius sobbed.

"Tha' still tried. I don't believe what Professor McAngus says about thee. Tha' wouldn't have tried if tha' was like Lucius or Draco Malfoy," Rigel said, "T' book Daisy and I were readin' is about t' war against Voldemort, and tha'rt nowt like t' Death Eaters." Scorpius looked like he was about to argue that he was, in fact, "evil," but what he said surprised Rose.

"Could you teach me Muggle Studies? Professor McAngus was just fired and I don't know when we're going to have a new teacher. I still want to learn," Scorpius said, and then he flinched. "But I shouldn't ask you for that, I don't deserve it but I want to learn but I don't want to make people do things for me."

"She wasn't teaching us anything, just going on about how much she hates the Malfoys and accusing Scorpius of being a spy, and then she dragged him all the way to Professor Rain's office and she was fired. Professor Rain said that no one really learned anything they were supposed to in last year's Muggle Studies class either," Rose explained, since Rigel hadn't been in the Muggle Studies class, as he was muggleborn himself.

"I could teach thee a bit. One one condition," Rigel said.

"I'll do anything! I'll even be your servant!" Scorpius gushed.

"I don't need a servant. I just want to know more about wizard history and society. It would be a trade. Tha' comes from t' wizard culture and I'm muggleborn, so we both have things to teach each other," Rigel explained.

"I will! I will do that but I don't know if I'm good enough but I'll try!" Scorpius declared, a bit too loudly for a library. Several people made shushing noises at him, but Rose found herself feeling a bit relieved, mainly because Scorpius didn't seem to be quite so upset about what Amber had said anymore.


	6. Unwanted Transformations

Chapter 6: Unwanted Transformations

Lily woke up on Saturday morning feeling rather nervous. She knew the full moon was that night, and that meant she would undergo her monthly werewolf transformation. This was the first time she had been away from her home and family on such a day, and she already missed having at least one of her parents or someone to comfort her. She slept with Teddy on full moon nights sometimes, and she could possibly ask to stay with him, but would that be allowed here? Lily was scared to be left alone with the 4 other girls in her dorm, what if she bit them? Even though she had been taking wolfsbane for 2 years now and she knew that it had always worked, that she had never once had any violent urges, she still lived with the fear that it might fail. Despite the passage of time, Lily still had the old nightmares once in a while, nightmares in which she attacked and bit people. They had come back at Hogwarts, partially because despite having been so excited to come here, she still found herself feeling homesick.

After breakfast, Lily headed off towards Professor Sprite's office to take her wolfsbane potion. To her surprise, Teddy was there, along with Serena Tippet, who Lily had remembered seeing at Teddy and Victoire's wedding last year. Lily giggled when she saw Serena, who was letting her Pomeranian dog eagerly lick her face as it stood on her lap, balancing its paws on Serena's chest.

"My dog likes to lick me too sometimes, but not that much!" Lily exclaimed, surprised to see Serena looking so happy. The times Lily had seen her, she had the impression that Serena was a rather unfriendly and aloof person.

"She does. She likes to lick me in the nose and eat my bogeys sometimes too," Serena said bluntly as Jessica climbed down and turned her head around, noticing the newcomer.

"Dogs like to eat funny things like that, my dog tried to eat my dirty socks yesterday but I told him no," Lily agreed, "Are you getting your Wolfsbane too?"

"What do you think I was doing?" Serena said, rolling her eyes a bit. Lily looked around, saw Amethyst scooping what was presumably her portion of wolfsbane into a goblet, and then saw something that made her forget her nightmares completely.

"Are those biscuits?! With chocolate drops?! Are they for us? Do you really get to have treats like that?!" Lily squealed excitedly.

"After you finish your medicine. I know it tastes awful, and I can't make it sweeter, but it's okay to have a treat afterwards to get rid of the taste. I always liked having a treat after I took medicine I hated too, when I was a little girl," Amethyst explained.

"Thank you, Professor Sprite," Lily grinned, taking her wolfsbane more eagerly than usual, as she wanted to get it overwith so she could have her treat. Having sweets this early in the morning was something her parents rarely let her do, except at special occasions.

"You said you had a dog. What is his name? Would he like to play with Jessica? I think it would be good for her to have other dogs to play with, no one else has a dog here at Hogwarts," Serena said.

"His name is Peanut, and he's a Chihuahua, so he's little like your dog. I think he would like playing with Jessica too. Do you like other animals besides dogs? I think dragons are cool but my parents say they're too dangerous for me to play with. Uncle Charlie gets to play with them, though," Lily said.

"Play with dragons? I've read about them in some of my books here but are there really ones that people have as pets? The ones I read about were wild dragons that didn't sound like they would let people play with them," Serena remembered, uncertain if this was yet another aspect of the "wizard world" that she didn't know about.

"Please don't play with dragons, Lily. They're very dangerous. Even more dangerous than you would be if you didn't take your wolfsbane," Amethyst warned, sounding terrified at the idea of one her beloved students being hurt by a wild dragon.

"But Uncle Charlie plays with them! I could learn how too!" Lily pouted.

"I don't think 'playing' is the right word to use. Your uncle probably takes care of dragons, but they're not a kind of creature people can just play with like a dog or a Pygmy Puff," Amethyst corrected, and Serena was pleasantly surprised to hear her sounding a bit more like a stern teacher than she usually did. Maybe Professor Sprite is learning to not be so scared of being "scary," Serena thought to herself.

"I still want to take care of dragons like he does someday," Lily sighed.

"Then maybe you should take Care of Magical Creatures when you get to your 3rd year. Professor Hagrid teaches that one, and he's an expert on dragons and other more dangerous creatures," Amethyst advised.

"I know him! I was going to visit him this evening with my brother!" Lily exclaimed, and then her cheeriness seemed to pop like a bubble as she realized what "evening" meant. "Where should I stay when I transform? I don't want to be alone but I'm scared to be in my bed with the other girls because I don't want to bite them!"

"You won't bite them. I sleep in my dorm as a werewolf all the time," Serena shrugged, "I like to curl up with Jessica on my bed."

"I guess I could sleep with my dog," Lily said, although she still was nervous. She wasn't sure her dog could comfort her in the way her parents or Teddy could. She supposed she could decide later, maybe she could stay with Teddy in his office since he was staying at Hogwarts during the school year now.

Lily and Serena weren't the only ones at Hogwarts who underwent unwanted transformations that day, though. It happened at lunchtime, while Lily was eating at the Ravenclaw table with her cousins Rose and Lucy. She looked around and saw Albus eating with Bunny at the Hufflepuff table, but James seemed to be oddly absent. She then saw him at the doorway to the Great Hall, and it looked like he was chewing something already. Lily stared at her brother closer, surprised by what she was seeing. It was harder to tell because he was wearing robes, but was he suddenly getting fatter? And why was his skin turning blue?

"What's wrong with James?" Rose worried. He was standing near the door, his entire mid-section expanding outward like he had swallowed a balloon.

"If it's what I think it is, I'm surprised he got tricked. There's this new gum called Balloonberry Gum at Weasley Wheezes that makes the person who chews it turn into a balloon and turn blue, but I don't know anyone besides me who would've made him eat it. And I know I didn't give HIM the gum, I still have some with me," Lucy explained, showing Rose and Lily a stick of gum that had a bright blue wrapper and pictures of balloons on it. "I think Uncle George got the idea from watching that muggle movie about the candy factory, remember when we watched it during the summer?"

At this point, James's body was almost spherical, although his head, feet and hands still stuck out. He was yelling something, but Rose was too far away to hear what he was saying as he started lifting off the ground.

"Why can't he spit it out? Wouldn't that make him stop inflating?" Rose asked, worried about her cousin.

"He can't. It's a charm put on the gum that makes it stick to the roof of the victim's mouth so they can't just spit it out. Don't worry, it will wear off in about an hour or so," Lucy shrugged with a grin, she was obviously enjoying the spectacle.

"But what if he pops?! I don't want him to die!" Lily shrieked.

"He's not going to. It stops when the inflated person is a ball, like James is there," Lucy said.

"I want to float too!" Galaxy giggled, and she climbed onto the Gryffindor table as James floated overhead. Several people tried to pull her down, but she managed to grab onto James's robes. He flipped upside-down, revealing that aside from his robes, his other clothes had popped off and he was now a big naked blue ball, but he still floated higher, Galaxy still hanging on.

"Get off of me, Galaxy! I can't see!" James shouted, as Galaxy had accidentally pulled the robes over James's head when she had grabbed on.

"I wish I could get him down with the deflating charm Professor Christopher taught us this week, but I don't know if I can do it right yet and it would probably just make him fall and that would hurt both him and Galaxy," Rose worried frantically. James and Galaxy bobbed over the Hufflepuff table, where Bunny reached up, trying to pull them down. She managed to grab onto Galaxy's leg. Galaxy let go and Bunny caught her, the force causing James to go bouncing even higher.

After an hour of watching James float around, Lily noticed he seemed to be getting thinner again, and he was floating lower and lower. He finally landed on the floor, quickly regaining his usual shape and the blue color receding from his skin. Lily ran over to him, hoping that the gum hadn't permanently hurt him despite Lucy's reassurances to the contrary.

"How did that happen? Were you trying to make a big show like when David threw all those bubbles and fireworks into the Quidditch game?" Lily asked, wondering if it had been a stunt gone wrong. Or had her trickster brother fallen victim to someone else's prank?

"I didn't mean to! I don't even know what happened! One minute I was thinking about tricking Fred into eating the gum and the next it was in my mouth and I couldn't get it out!" James spluttered. The chewed gum was on the floor next to him, the mouth-sticking charm having worn off. "And someone give me my clothes back! Even Aunt Marge didn't lose her clothes when Dad inflated her!" Lily was confused by what James had said. Why would someone just eat something like that without realizing they were doing it? Did someone put a jinx on him, she wondered? Or was James just being stupid and wanted to try the gum himself and was he just trying to not admit he was wrong to have done so?


	7. Fantasy Tales and Surprises

Chapter 7: Fantasy Tales and Surprises

After dinner that evening, Lily headed off to Hagrid's hut instead of going back to the Ravenclaw common room like she usually did. She still was nervous about sleeping there tonight. While she knew that it was highly unlikely that the Wolfsbane would stop working and that she would attack the other girls who shared the dorm with her, the fear was still in her mind. An idea then occurred to her, but she wasn't sure if it would be allowed, or even if it would be safe. But surely there would be no harm in asking. When she arrived at Hagrid's hut, she found Albus was there already.

"Yeh know, Al, I don' usually read books like this, but this 'Lord of the Rings' sounds interestin' enough I might want to read it. I am kinda curious what a muggle writer would write about. Are these elves in the book like the house elves? Are there any dragons or other interestin' creatures in these books?" Hagrid was asking Albus as Lily poked her head in.

"There IS a dragon in a different book by the same author, but it's kind of an evil dragon and he gets killed and I'm afraid that would upset you. There's also a giant spider called Shelob who is in the Lord of the Rings, but she's evil too. I'm sorry, Professor Hagrid, but I don't think the author of these stories was as fond of things like dragons and giant spiders as you are," Albus explained, and Lily noticed that he seemed like he was scared Hagrid would be upset at him, even though he wasn't the one who wrote the books in question.

"Nah, if it's only a little part of the story I don' think it'll hurt me much. I'd still like to read it sometime. I know not many people like interestin' creatures," Hagrid said with a bit of a resigned sigh.

"I like them, Professor Hagrid. I mean, I really love dragons and would really like to have one of my own but Mum and Dad said that I should just take care of my dog for now. I love Peanut too, but it's my dream to go work with Uncle Charlie someday in Romania," Lily announced.

"That's great, Lily! I guess you'll be taking my class when yer old enough?" Hagrid said as Lily entered and took a seat next to Albus.

"Hello, Lily. I was telling Professor Hagrid about Lord of the Rings," Albus explained.

"I know. I've watched those muggle DVDs with you and James. Sometimes I wish I could go on adventures and heroic quests like that too. Think of all the different things I could learn about and all the new places I could explore!" Lily exclaimed happily.

"Yer Dad certainly had his share of adventures when he was yer age. From what I heard, he, Ron and Hermione had some long travels when they were lookin' fer the Horcruxes," Hagrid commented.

"I know! Do you think we'll get to do anything like that here at Hogwarts? Maybe I could get to ride on a dragon too, that was the coolest part!" Lily gushed.

"But that would mean fighting people like Voldemort. You wouldn't want someone like him to be around again, would you? What about last year, when that one Slytherin girl turned into a thestral and attacked muggleborns and killed Professor Sanders? You don't want something like that to happen again, do you?" Albus worried.

"I didn't think about that part," Lily sighed, "It's just that Mum and Dad's adventures sound so exciting."

"How do yeh like being here at Hogwarts? What do yeh think of yer classes so far?" Hagrid asked, hoping to lighten Lily's mood again.

"It's fun! I like how there seems to be so many new things to learn. Professor Sprite is so gentle and kind and I'm REALLY glad she can make the Wolfsbane for me and she even bakes sweets! Charms seems interesting, and I like reading the book for it, but Professor Christopher is kind of boring. The way everyone made a big deal about her at the Sorting Ceremony, I thought having her as a teacher would be more interesting, but she's kind of quiet and boring. It was kind of funny the way Lorcan got so excited because she's from Liverpool and has an accent from there and he was so happy and she let him record her lectures on that thing he has. I've never met anyone besides him who likes accents so much," Lily answered, smiling at her memories of Lorcan's antics. "What do you think about her, Albus? She's kind of like you, only not as scared of everything."

"I don't know," Albus said nervously, "Melissa Blips made up this scary rumor that Professor Christopher is the child of Bellatrix and V...Voldemort, but that can't be true."

"Why not? Professor Christopher told me that's who her real parents are. I asked her after class because I heard those same rumors and I wanted to know if they were true, and she said it was," Lily shrugged.

"No..." Albus whispered, terrified, "She was kidding. That can't be true. How could...Professor Rain wouldn't let someone like that teach us."

"So what? What are you so scared of? Having evil parents doesn't mean Professor Christopher is automatically evil. It's like, I'm a werewolf and some people would think that's scary, and it might be..." Lily remembered her fears from earlier, and tears began to pour out of her eyes. "Professor Hagrid, help me! I don't want to sleep in my dorm tonight! I'm so scared I'm going to bite the other girls and I know I drank ALL my Wolfsbane but I'm still scared! Can half-giants be bitten by werewolves? I want to stay with you tonight but I don't want to get in trouble or hurt you or..." Lily broke off into sobs, lunging at Hagrid and hugging his legs.

"Yeh can stay with me, Lily. A werewolf bite can't hurt a half-giant. Yeh wouldn' be a nuisance or a danger to me," Hagrid reassured her.

"Thank you so much, Professor Hagrid," Lily whimpered, "I'm just so scared."

"You won't bite anyone, Lily. And you're probably right about Professor Christopher. Some people are pretty different from their parents, like Scorpius, or like David Longbottom," Albus said, "And Professor Rain wouldn't let her teach if she was anything like Voldemort or Bellatrix."

"She's not. That's why she was raised in Liverpool, by a muggle family. The Aurors who found her in the Lestrange house didn't want her to grow up around Death Eaters or anyone who knew about You-Know-Who, so they found people who wanted to adopt her in Liverpool. I knew her the whole time she was at Hogwarts, and she never made any trouble. Don' worry about her, Al," Hagrid explained.

"I won't. I trust you when you say that, Professor Hagrid. I shouldn't have said that about her; she can't help who her parents were," Albus admitted. It wasn't long before it began to get dark outside, and the Earth's satellite rose above the horizon. Lily let out a scream of pain as her body began to change into that of a young wolf. She jumped into Hagrid's lap, her whimpers becoming more and more dog-like by the second. Noelle, who had been watching the two Potter children quietly, jumped up, surprised by Lily. She sniffed the little werewolf, who nuzzled back.

"Does she smell like a dog now to your dog? Or like a wolf?" Albus asked, unsure what was going on between Noelle and Lily. He knew that Lily often had curled up with her own dog during her transformations, but he wasn't sure how a strange dog like Noelle would react to a werewolf. To his relief, Noelle licked Lily's furry face, sniffed her again, and then laid her head on Hagrid's lap right next to where Lily was curled up.

"She'll be alright, Al. You should go back to your house common room soon, they'll be lookin' for yeh. I'll explain ter Professor Rain about Lily tomorrow morning," Hagrid said quietly, as Lily was beginning to fall asleep in his lap.

"Good night, Lily. I hope you feel better tomorrow," Albus whispered into his sister's furry ear before leaving. Lily peeked out and watched him go, and then she relaxed on Hagrid's lap and soon fell asleep.

It was morning when she woke up again, back to her usual human self. She was confused when she saw that she was lying on the couch in Hagrid's hut, rather than in her bed in Ravenclaw Tower, but then she remembered what had happened last night. She looked around and saw Hagrid outside the window, working in his pumpkin patch. He turned towards the window and saw that she was awake and came inside.

"Good mornin', Lily. Did yeh sleep alrigh' here?" he asked cheerfully.

"Yes, I did. Thank you for letting me stay here. I didn't have to worry about biting anyone this way," she said.

"I should take yeh back to the Great Hall, jus' so everyone knows yeh were with me las' night," Hagrid said, "Tell me whenever yer ready to go. I think they're going ter introduce the new Muggle Studies teacher today. Professor Rain found someone yesterday who'd be willing ter do it."

"I could go right now, since I'm still wearing my school robes from last night," Lily realized, "I didn't know if I would be allowed to stay with you or not, so I didn't bring my nightgown with me. And I think I was a werewolf all night anyway, so I wouldn't have needed any clothes. Like how my dog doesn't need to wear clothes, since he has fur." It wasn't long before Hagrid and Lily headed back to Hogwarts Castle. They arrived just as most of the other students were entering the Great Hall for breakfast. Rose spotted Lily and ran over to her.

"Where WERE you last night?! I was so worried that something had happened to you!" Rose cried, grabbing Lily in a squeezing hug.

"I was just sleeping with Professor Hagrid. He said it was okay, because I wouldn't be able to hurt him. I wasn't doing anything dangerous," Lily answered, "I thought Al would tell everyone I wasn't in danger, but I guess I forgot that he wouldn't be able to tell you since you're in different houses."

"Just tell someone if you're going to do that. Someone who can let me know as well," Rose sighed.

"I thought it was fine as long as I was with a professor, but I guess that wasn't enough. I just was so scared I was going to bite someone if I stayed in my bed tonight and I transformed at Hagrid's hut and didn't want to come back inside as a werewolf and he LET me stay with him! Please don't take points off from me!" Lily wailed.

"I'm not going to. I wouldn't be able to, I'm not a prefect. Please just tell me or someone if you're going to do that. You could have asked Albus to tell Professor Sprite, at least, since she's the head of Ravenclaw. I don't think she knew where you were either, she came in asking where you were and was really upset because she thought you ran away from Hogwarts," Rose explained, "So please apologize to her. She really did worry about you, Lily."

"I'm sorry, Rose. I guess I was too scared to really think about what I was doing. Can we go eat now, or do I need to skip breakfast as my punishment?" Lily asked.

"No, of course not. Let's go together," Rose said, and the two cousins headed into the Great Hall together.


	8. Muggle Studies

Chapter 8: Muggle Studies

Rose Weasley couldn't believe what Lily had just told her. It was lunchtime on Monday, and the two cousins were in the Great Hall, eating at a table with Scorpius and Galaxy. Rose, Scorpius and Galaxy had been studying together for their Muggle Studies class, since Samantha Rain had finally found a new teacher, someone named June Birch, when Lily asked to join them. Lily then let loose with the shocking revelation that Professor Christopher was the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort.

"Are you certain that's not just a rumor you heard? Who told you this?" Rose asked.

"That sounds kind of like something David would make up just to mess with the first years. He's kind of angry at Professor Christopher since she gave him detention for throwing fireworks in the classroom," Galaxy added, "But she DOES look a lot like the old pictures of Bellatrix, so they could be related."

"Professor Christopher herself told me, and Hagrid knew about it too when I asked him. And he wouldn't lie to me about something like that. Please don't hate her, she can't help who her parents are," Lily pleaded.

"So she's like me? She has evil parents too? NO ONE should be hated for that! That's as bad as my evil father hating people for being muggleborn!" Scorpius declared loudly. He pounded the table for emphasis, slamming his fist into his glass of pumpkin juice, knocking it over. The juice splashed all over Rose, dumping into her food and staining her open textbook orange. Seeing what he had done, he screamed in horror and tried to climb across the table with his napkin to wipe up his spill, knocking over Galaxy's juice in the process as well.

"Scorpius, please! I can clean it up myself! Just sit down before you hurt yourself!" Rose shrieked in surprise. Scorpius jumped backwards, cringing as if Rose had hit him, and knocked his chair over. It crashed to the floor with a loud clatter and one of the legs broke off, but Scorpius didn't seem to notice as he tried to run around to the other side of the table. Unfortunately, he only succeeded in crashing into Professor Belinda Christopher herself, who had come over to see what the commotion was all about. The two of them landed in a heap in the aisle.

"Good one, Malfoy! You got revenge on her for me!" David shouted approvingly from the Gryffindor table. Professor Bridget O'Blarney, who had also noticed the commotion, came over to make sure no one was hurt. Scorpius crawled quickly off of Belinda, staring at her dazed face with fear.

"I'm SO sorry! Maybe I really AM evil, I hurt both you and Rose Weasley!" he moaned.

"What happened over here? What were you screaming about, Scorpius, and why were you trying to climb on the table and running into people?" Bridget asked calmly.

"I just wanted to clean up the mess I made! And then I made things worse! I must be cursed!" Scorpius wailed. Rose came over with Galaxy, both of them also wanting to make sure no one was hurt as well.

"He accidentally spilled pumpkin juice and was trying to climb over the table to clean it up. I told him to sit down so he wouldn't hurt himself, and then he..." Rose paused in her explanation, unsure about Scorpius's behavior. "Why did you get up and run away when I told you to sit down, Scorpius? Did I do something wrong?"

"I wanted to help clean it up so I thought I would go around the table instead of over it, but I can't even do that right! And I even hurt a teacher!" Scorpius sobbed as Belinda sat up, confused as to the reason for all the panic and apologizing.

"I'm not that 'urt. I bump into things meself sometimes," Belinda said quietly.

"You just need to calm down a bit more, Scorpius. Accidents are most likely to happen when people aren't paying attention to what they're doing, and it's difficult to do that when you're panicking. And accidentally spilling juice on someone isn't a reason to panic," Bridget said gently, "Are you going to be able to go to your next class?"

"Yes! I want to! I want to learn all about muggles and teach my evil father that they're NOT inferior!" Scorpius declared loudly, jumping up a little too quickly. He stumbled backwards into Rose, who caught him before he fell again.

"Good for you," Bridget said with an amused smile, "Professor Christopher will be fine, you don't need to worry about her. I think you'll find that Professor Birch, your new Muggle Studies teacher, will be able to teach you a lot. She's actually rather well-known for adapting muggle technology with magic and having invented quite a few new devices recently. One of which is an audio recorder that has been very useful to the Aurors, since it now allows them to record interviews with witnesses and suspects, according to Harry Potter himself."

"I think I had my voice recorded by someone who was using something like that," Scorpius realized, remembering his encounter with Lorcan Scamander in the bookstore, and then he became worried again. "Am I really a snob like that boy said? I'm afraid I might be one, even muggles sometimes say that my voice makes me sound snobby."

"I haven't noticed you acting like a snob in my classes, Scorpius. You do have what would be considered a very upperclass type of the Received Pronunciation accent, but that's only to be expected given your family background. But that has nothing to do with what kind of person you are. If you are done with lunch, it would be a good idea to get ready for your new class. I hear that Professor Birch dislikes tardiness in her students. I have to get ready for my own next class, too," Bridget said. Rose noticed that Scorpius had begun silently crying when he heard Bridget say the fatal words "family background" and, realizing that he hadn't been paying attention to her suggestion that they head to class, gently led him out of the Great Hall. When they made it to the Muggle Studies classroom, most of their classmates were there, including Galaxy, but they didn't see David anywhere.

"Hi, Scorpy and Rose! Don't worry about Professor Christopher, she wouldn't be allowed to teach here if she was evil," Galaxy said confidently.

"I know. Scorpius is just a little upset because he remembered something that happened during the summer. I can tell you about it later," Rose explained, both of them taking seats close to Galaxy. Professor June Birch then entered the room. She had short, neatly cut reddish-brown hair and green eyes. She was also wearing muggle clothing, a green shirt and black trousers, which was unusual for a Hogwarts teacher. Unfortunately, when she reached her desk, David popped out from underneath and threw a large water balloon at her.

"Detention, Longbottom," she said coldly, speaking with what Rose noticed to be a thick Manchester accent, "Sit down before I take any points off from yer 'ouse." David stuck his tongue out at her but sat down anyway. She then proceeded to take roll, going through each student's name. There was a problem, however, when she said "Malfoy, Scorpius."

"I know. I'm evil and I don't deserve to be here," Scorpius whimpered quietly.

"What was that? Is Scorpius Malfoy in class?" Professor Birch asked, looking around the room.

"He's right here. He's having some kind of problem because he's upset about the summer holidays," Galaxy clarified, pointing to Scorpius, who was cowering a bit, afraid of what Professor Birch's reaction to him would be.

"As this is an elective class, I expect that everyone in this class is 'ere because they want to be. This is not a class where you can just daydream about wishing it was still the summer holidays. You will all need to work extra 'ard because from what Professor Rain told me, this class did not learn anything about Muggle Studies during the first week," June Birch said coldly, completely misinterpreting the reason Scorpius was upset. Assuming that Galaxy was telling the truth about who Scorpius was, she checked his name off on her list and finished with checking off everyone else. Rose suddenly felt like something was missing, and then she realized what it was. She raised her hand, unsure if it was a good idea to ask about this but she was certain she hadn't had a class without one so far.

"Yes, Weasley?" Professor Birch asked, sounding a little surprised to see someone asking a question already.

"Professor McAngus didn't assign us a book when she taught us. Are you going to require one? Or does Muggle Studies never have a book and am I being stupid?" Rose worried.

"No, she should 'ave assigned you a book. I will need to talk to Professor Rain about what to do in this situation. But just in case, I would like each one of you to submit to me information about who your guardians or parents are. We might be able to ask them to buy the books from Flourish and Blotts by owl post. Until then, this class will not 'ave a textbook," Professor Birch explained.

"Can we shoot off muggle fireworks?" David blurted out.

"No, I will not be discussing fireworks in this year's class. For now, we will start with what are called simple machines. They are the lever, the wheel and axle, the wedge, the inclined plane, the screw, and the pulley," Professor Birch said, and she wrote each name on the chalkboard. She then began to pass out packets of paper to each student, papers that were attached to each other with the use of staples. As expected, some of the students looked confused as to what the little metal things along the edge of the packet were, although others, those who were already familiar with muggle technology, didn't seem as shocked.

"Why are there pieces of metal stuck in these papers?!" Scorpius blurted out in surprise.

"They are called staples. Muggles use them to bind papers together. Instead of a textbook, for now I would like you to read these packets as your assignment. They will include information about the simple machines I will discuss today," Professor Birch said. As the class went on and Professor Birch summarized each type of simple machine, Rose noticed something that made her feel quite relieved. Scorpius, who had been afraid of what Professor Birch's reaction to him would be, seemed to forget his earlier worries as the class went on. By the time it was over, she was glad to see that he was excited and curious to learn more, and the class ended on a much happier note than it had began.


	9. Rose's Worries

Chapter 9: Rose's Worries

Charms wasn't usually a class that gave Rose any unusual concern, but ever since she had learned who Belinda's real parents were, she was rather nervous about the class. Even though she knew that Belinda had not shown any signs of being evil so far, she found herself feeling rather frightened of her Charms teacher. While the logical part of Rose's brain told her that people didn't always automatically end up acting like their parents, she still felt wary about having the daughter of Voldemort as a teacher. From what Rose had read about Voldemort, he had been very adept at pretending he was innocent and charming when he was a student at Hogwarts. What if Belinda had tricked Hagrid and Professor Rain in the same way? And despite Galaxy's confident statement that no one who was really bad would be allowed to teach at Hogwarts, Rose knew that the past showed that wasn't quite true, given what Ron and Hermione had told her and Hugo about a few of the teachers they had encountered during their time at school.

On Thursday, which was the day she and the other 3rd year Ravenclaws had Charms with the Gryffindor students, something else happened that drove Rose's worries about Belinda temporarily out of her mind again. When she arrived at her Transfiguration class, she noticed that while all the other Ravenclaw students were there, most of the Gryffindors seemed to be missing. Rose knew that they had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs during the first period, and her natural inclination towards worrying made her wonder if something bad had happened in that class. It wasn't long before David stomped into the classroom, and Rose noticed he seemed to be very angry about something.

"Stupid overprotective dad, won't let me have a salamander cat," she heard him muttering to himself.

"What's a salamander cat?" asked Jennifer Zimmerman, who was sitting next to him.

"It's this really cool creature that came into the greenhouse. It was shooting all these big flames everywhere and it even made sparks and stuff that looked like fireworks! And Dad wouldn't even let me TRY to catch it!" David ranted.

"It came into the greenhouse? As in, it just walked in? Can something like that open doors? Or did it walk right through the wall?" Jennifer asked, still unsure what David was talking about. By this point, the other Gryffindor students had arrived.

"Rose! This thing that looked like an orange lizard with a cat head blasted into the greenhouse and it was shooting fire everywhere! Professor Longbottom chased it out and even protected us and all the plants with his magical shield thing!" Galaxy exclaimed excitedly, "He's SOOO much cooler than YOU, David."

"How did something like that get in the greenhouse in the first place? Did it escape from a Care of Magical Creatures class?" Ariel Marsh wondered aloud.

"Or it could have been sent there on purpose," Rose realized, "I know someone who might want to take revenge on Professor Longbottom. Professor Rain never should have trusted her, it's exactly like something HE would do."

"Who are you talking about, Miss Weasley? I will talk to Neville about the incident later, but who would be here who would want to kill him?" Professor Amanda Quigley asked, confused by Rose's vague accusation.

"Professor Christopher. I mean, it's not certain, but Professor Longbottom DID defy Lord Voldemort right to his face and killed his last Horcrux. Professor Christopher might want to get revenge on him for defeating her father," Rose explained.

"How can you say that, Rose?! Just because...IT'S NOT HER FAULT HER PARENTS WERE EVIL!" Scorpius screamed, sounding both hurt and angry.

"I don't know," Rose whimpered, starting to cry as well, "I just think it's so scary that Voldemort actually had a daughter and that she was allowed to teach here! I know that not everyone acts like their parents, but...I'm just afraid that she won't be an exception like you, Scorpius."

"Wait, Professor Christopher is Voldemort's daughter?! I thought those Horcrux things made him some kind of inhuman monster. And he had...EWWWW!" Ariel squealed, disgusted at even the idea that someone like Voldemort would have sex and be able to impregnate a woman.

"It's even worse. Bellatrix Lestrange is her mother," Rose realized, remembering what she heard about how Bellatrix was like Neville's archenemy.

"AND HOW IS ANY OF THAT HER FAULT?! HOW DOES THAT MAKE HER EVIL?!" Scorpius shouted, and then he began to sob, "How could you say something like that, Rose? What do you think of me, then?"

"Yeah, Rose, she wouldn't be allowed to be a teacher if she was evil!" Galaxy blurted out.

"EEEWWW! Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange had...EEEEWWWWW!" Ariel shrieked again, and then she began giggling hysterically.

"That's enough! Be quiet!" Amanda demanded, using her wand to make a loud noise like a gunshot. Most of the students were quiet immediately, although Ariel still had the giggles and Scorpius was still audibly sobbing, whimpering "I'm cursed with evil, I inherited his evil."

"I understand that there was an attack by a strange creature in Herbology. As I said, I will ask Professor Longbottom about it, and it will be investigated. But this is not the time to be making unfounded accusations about who the culprit might be. This is time to be learning Transfiguration. Today is the start of some very important lessons, if you will turn to page 59 in your textbooks, you will see why," Amanda said.

"Animagi? Is that like that thestral girl who was attacking students last year?" Electra asked as she quickly found the part of the book Amanda had directed them to. "Are you trying to imply that the lizard cat thing might be an Animagus?"

"I am not making any assumptions about the nature of the attack on the Herbology class, but yes, next we will be discussing Animagi. Libra Elm, the girl who attacked muggleborns last year, was an example of an Animagus. An Animagus is a person who, through their own will and study, develops the ability to transform into a specific animal," Amanda explained, "Most of the time, Animagi become non-magical animals, but it is not unheard of for an Animagus to turn into a magical beast, such as a thestral." Amanda then reached behind her desk and set an orange Pomeranian on it. Rose immediately recognized who that dog was, especially when the dog suddenly turned into Victoire Weasley.

"Hi Victoire! Remember me from your wedding?" Galaxy called out happily.

"I don't remember your name, but I do remember that you're one of Rose's friends," Victoire said.

"While asking Victoire Weasley here questions is encouraged, please keep your questions to the topic at hand, which is Animagi," Amanda reminded the students. Ariel pouted a bit, lowered her raised hand, but then raised it again. Amanda pointed at her.

"Do you know anything about Remus Lupin and his friends? They were Animagi too," Ariel said. Amanda stared at her, unsure if this was a good topic to bring up, but she decided to let Victoire answer the question anyway, since it was technically on topic.

"I do know who Remus Lupin is," Victoire answered, giggling a bit, "I'm married to his son, of course I would know who he is! He died before I was born, so all I know about him is what I've heard about him from other people. I don't know much about his friends, either, if you mean Uncle Harry's father and Sirius Black, but I did know they were Animagi. What did you want to know about them? I know a few things, mostly what Uncle Harry told me, but I could try to answer your questions."

"Don't you think they're wonderful? They were such good friends until Peter Pettigrew broke them up, but you know what my theory is? I think Snape brainwashed Peter Pettigrew into becoming a spy for Voldemort. He hated James and Sirius and would want to break up their friendship," Ariel said, nodding wisely.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what your question is. Is there something you want to know about Animagi, or are you asking me if I agree with your theory about Snape?" Victoire asked, feeling rather confused.

"I'm asking about Snape! Don't you think he was evil enough to have done something like that?" Ariel asserted.

"I thought he helped to defeat Voldemort because he was pretending he was still a Death Eater but he was really spying for Professor Dumbledore. At least that's what I remember learning about him from the History class here and from Uncle Harry. I don't understand why you would think he brainwashed Peter Pettigrew into being a Death Eater," Victoire said, "Professor Quigley, did I get something wrong when I was taking History of Magic?"

"No, there's nothing wrong with you, Victoire. Miss Marsh, this is not the time to discuss Severus Snape, as he was never an Animagus. Please save your questions about Severus Snape for Professor Creevey's History of Magic class. Now, does anyone else have any questions about Animagi?" Amanda asked, annoyed that she had let Ariel derail the discussion so much. Rigel Green raised his hand, and Amanda acknowledged him.

"Are you able t' think like a human when you are a dog, or does turning into a dog make you think like one?" Rigel asked.

"No, my mind doesn't change too much when I'm a dog. That's one of the major differences between an Animagus and a werewolf, because unlike an Animagus, a werewolf will normally lose their mind when transformed unless he or she takes Wolfsbane potion beforehand. I'm not able to speak like a human when I'm in dog form, though," Victoire answered. The class continued, and Victoire answered more questions about her experience with being an Animagus. While Rose found some of it to be very interesting and informative, she still couldn't help but worry about the fact that Charms class was later that day. Though she knew it wasn't likely, part of her still was afraid that Belinda might be just as evil and sneaky as her parents, and she was unsure how she would be able to handle Charms class now that she knew who the teacher was related to.


	10. Accusations

Chapter 10: Accusations

After Transfiguration class ended, lunch break began. Some students left the classroom and a few others went to the front of the class to see if they could talk to Victoire. Rose was about to join the former group when she was blocked by Scorpius.

"You don't really mean that about Professor Christopher, do you? Do you really think she's evil just because her parents were?" he pleaded tearfully, "Do you think I'M evil because of my father?"

"I just don't know. It's not that I think that it's certain that she is evil or that she was behind the attack on the Herbology class, but I'm afraid it might be a possibility. There HAVE been evil teachers at Hogwarts before, and they were always really good at disguising themselves, too," Rose worried.

"What evil teachers? You mean Professor McAngus? She was pretty mean and kind of crazy with the way she thought Scorpius was a spy, but I don't know if I'd call her evil in the same way Voldemort was," Galaxy commented, butting in on the conversation.

"Not her, I mean some of the teachers my parents had at Hogwarts were Dark wizards or witches, and at least two of them were really good at hiding what they were really doing," Rose corrected her.

"So you think that Professor Christopher might be evil just because of who her parents were? Is that the ONLY proof you have?!" Scorpius demanded.

"I don't have any proof. I just mean it might be possible," Rose repeated, "It doesn't have anything to do with how I feel about you, Scorpius."

"And because you think that she might be evil just because of her parents, you're going to treat her like she's a villain? Is that what you're going to do?" Scorpius snapped.

"I don't know," Rose whimpered, "I'm just scared she won't be the kind of exception you are. Most children ARE at least a little similar to their parents."

"I can't believe you would be so cruel to someone just because of their parents! HOW CAN YOU MAKE HER SUFFER JUST BECAUSE HER PARENTS WERE EVIL?!" Scorpius screamed. Amanda approached them, sighing.

"Now what is this all about? Why are you having such a loud argument here?" she asked; she knew that it had something to do with Professor Christopher, since she had heard what Rose had said in class, but she wanted them to explain it themselves.

"Rose thinks that Professor Christopher is evil just because she happens to have Voldemort as a parent!" Scorpius accused.

"I don't know if she's evil or not. I'm just afraid that they would have raised her to follow Death Eater beliefs," Rose said, "I'm just afraid that there might be the possibility that she could be evil."

"Listen, Miss Weasley, there is something you need to understand about Professor Christopher. She was only 2 at most when both Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange were killed. She was adopted by a muggle family in Liverpool, so she did not grow up being indoctrinated with Death Eater beliefs. I taught her when she was in school here, and she did not make any trouble. Nor were there any mysterious incidents of the sort that were common during Voldemort's time at school. You have no reason to worry about her or fear her," Amanda explained, firmly but gently. Rose sighed with relief upon hearing that. While she still found the idea of having a teacher who was related to Voldemort to be disturbing, she knew now that Belinda was much more likely to be the type of exception Scorpius was, especially since she wasn't really raised by her birth parents.

"Why would it matter who she grew up with? NO ONE should hate her for who her parents were!" Scorpius declared.

"How fitting for you to say that, Malfoy." Rose turned around upon hearing that familiar Irish-accented voice. It was Electra O'Blarney, who was watching them from the doorway with a smirk on her face.

"What is that supposed to mean? You're not going to accuse Scorpius of being evil again, are you? Just because his father was evil, it doesn't mean he would be evil too!" Rose retorted, coming to the defense of her friend, who looked like he might start crying again.

"That's not what you were saying in class today," Electra continued, that horrible smirk still on her face.

"O'Blarney, please. This is not the first time I have caught you making unfounded accusations. Now do I have to escort you three to the Great Hall myself, or can I trust you to not fight?" Amanda interjected.

"I'm not fighting. I'm just making an observation," Electra said, still smirking, but she slipped out of the room, heading in the direction of the Great Hall. Rose and Scorpius also went in that direction, although Rose had to guide Scorpius, as he was distracted by his self-hating thoughts.

"Scorpius, it's fine. Electra just hasn't taken the time to get to know you for who YOU are," Rose told him as they reached the Great Hall. When they entered, they found that Electra was standing on the Gryffindor table, and most of the students were watching her as she made a condemning speech.

"Everyone, I have shocking and terrifying news! There is a Death Eater at Hogwarts! Professor Belinda Christopher is the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange and Lord Voldemort! Do not listen to her lies if she tries to convert you to the Dark Side! She may seem harmless, but Voldemort was just as good at seeming to be innocent when he was a student, so do NOT be fooled! Behind that quiet mask lies a heart born of pure evil!" Electra announced.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Bridget shouted. Rose flinched, she never liked to see her teachers angry, even if she hadn't done anything wrong, and it was quite rare for Bridget to show even a bit of a temper. Bridget strode over to the Gryffindor table, her metallic leg audibly clanking, and faced her daughter.

"Detention, Electra. With me. Right now. You will have lunch in my office while I decide on your further punishment. You will stay with me through your 3rd period, and I will explain to Hagrid exactly why you will be missing his class. I will let you go to Charms in your 4th period, but you must personally apologize to Belinda for your actions. I will make an announcement at dinner that will counter your baseless rumors as well," Bridget stated. Electra glared at her but slid off of the table anyway and followed her mother out of the Great Hall. Though Rose could hear many students talking, presumably about Electra's proclamation, the lunch period passed without incident. As neither she nor Scorpius had a class during their 3rd period, they went to the library together. Rose thought the best way to get Scorpius to stop focusing on what Electra had said would be to get him interested in studying more about Muggle Studies, and so they went over the booklets that Professor Birch had given them on Monday. Though this distracted Scorpius for awhile, when it came to go to Charms class, he became worried again.

"What if Electra tries to hurt Professor Christopher? What if no one listens to her? You don't still think she's evil, do you?" he worried, giving a pleading look to Rose as they neared the Charms classroom.

"No, I don't think that anymore," Rose said. Her earlier discomfort at the idea of having a teacher who was related to two of the Darkest wizards and witches ever had turned into pity for Professor Christopher, especially considering the condemning speech Electra had made about her in the Great Hall. And, she realized with guilt, that part of it might be her own fault as well, as she had been the one to bring the issue up in the first place. When they got to Charms, Electra was there. She glared at Belinda from her desk, but was otherwise quiet.

"Today I am going to teach you the Mending Charm. It's for fixing broken objects," Belinda announced, and she wrote the word "Reparo" on the blackboard.

"Fixing things?! That's boring! Aren't there any spells for breaking things?" David whined, "I know there have to be!"

"There are spells that can break or destroy objects. But it's easier to destroy than it is to create or mend. Destroying something can be done without magic. Like this," Belinda said, and then she ripped a piece of parchment into pieces. She then pointed her wand at the pieces, said "Reparo," and the pieces came back together again. Ariel raised her hand, but didn't even wait for Belinda to acknowledge her before she spoke.

"Do you hate Severus Snape for what he did to your parents? I mean, he was a big liar and made Voldemort think he was a real Death Eater, so you must hate him for tricking your father like that, right?" Ariel asked.

"I don't really know much about Severus Snape aside from what I read in books. From what I do know, I think it was a good thing that he tricked Lord Voldemort. Despite being related to 'im, I would not want to live in a world ruled by me birth father. I don't understand what that question 'as to do with the Mending Charm, though," Belinda answered, confused as to why Ariel was talking about someone who was more famed for his Potions work rather than Charms.

"Right, everyone loves him, stupid Snape," Ariel muttered to herself annoyedly, but she didn't pursue the matter any further.

"About the Mending Charm, it's best to start with something simple at first. So I'm going to give each of you a piece of parchment that you can rip in 'alf and then you can try putting it back together with the new charm. Remember, it's like this," Belinda said, and she ripped the same parchment in half once again, and then demonstrated the charm, which made it whole again. She then levitated sheets of parchment to each student so they could practice.

"All right! I get to finally break something!" David cheered, and he not only ripped his paper in two, but kept ripping it wildly until there were pieces of parchment scattered all over his desk.

"Are you sure you want to start out with something so advanced, Mr. Longbottom? It's much more difficult to fix something that has been split into many pieces rather than just two," Belinda pointed out, noticing what David had done.

"Well, of course I can! My dad is a pretty powerful wizard, so I bet I can do advanced magic easily!" David bragged, though Rose could tell that there was a bit of hidden uncertainty in his tone. "Reparo!" David pointed his wand at the pieces of parchment and spoke the charm. Rose was surprised to see that while most of the pieces simply moved a little closer together, a few of the little scraps merged. David stared at the merged pieces, unsure whether or not he was surprised that it worked as well as it did for a first try or annoyed that it didn't work as well as he had claimed it would. Rose and everyone else began to try the spell for themselves, and by the end of the class, most of the students could at least repair the parchment when it was broken into halves, and Rigel Green and Electra had succeeded to the point at which they both could repair a piece of parchment that had been broken into almost as many scraps as David had ripped his into at the beginning. Belinda had given both of them 10 points to each of their houses, which Electra was very surprised at, though unfortunately it didn't seem to reassure her of Belinda's innocence, as Rose still heard Electra mutter "She still might be pretending to be nice" as the students left the classroom.


	11. The Demented Shack

Chapter 11: The Demented Shack

A few weeks passed, and soon it was October. On October 5th, most of the 3rd year students were excited about the trip to Hogsmeade which was going to happen that day. To her surprise, Rose found herself agreeing with Ariel on something, which was that they both were eager to see the Shrieking Shack. While Ariel wanted to visit it because she wanted to see the place Snape had died, Rose was curious because she remembered that it featured prominently in some of the adventures her parents had went on when they were her age.

"You promise to bring me some sweets from Honeydukes, right?" Lily pleaded as Rose prepared to leave.

"Of course I will," Rose said with a smile. She started to head for the door along with many of the other older Ravenclaws, but then Amethyst Sprite came into the common room looking very worried and frightened about something.

"Please listen, this is very important," Amethyst said, her voice shaking nervously even though she was trying to speak loud enough for everyone to hear her. "I'm really really sorry, but the Hogsmeade trip has been cancelled."

"Why?! Is there a loose criminal again, only the criminal was actually framed and his friend did it instead?" Ariel blurted out.

"Um, no, it's worse. There are dementors in the Shrieking Shack," Amethyst answered. Several people gasped in fright, including Rose, although she could hear a few others asking things like "What are dementors?"

"Dementors are a very dangerous kind of Dark creature," Amethyst explained, "The Ministry is sending Aurors to take care of them. I'm sure the trip can be rescheduled. Maybe if the Dementors are gone by next week, it will be safe again." She then hurried out of the room, looking as though she was afraid that the students would be angry at her because the Hogsmeade trip was cancelled.

"Are dementors really that dangerous? Or do they just have bad rumors about them like thestrals?" Lily asked once Amethyst had left.

"No, Lily. Do not even THINK about trying to tame one for a pet. They aren't like thestrals or even dragons. They feed on people's emotions and steal the happiness away from anyone who gets near them, and they eat people's souls. Please promise me you will never even consider wanting one for a pet," Rose said seriously.

"Oh. So that's what they are. Even if I can't have one for a pet, maybe Hagrid will know about them. I can ask him when Albus and I visit him today," Lily said cheerfully.

"I'm sure he would know about Dementors. He does know a lot about different magical creatures, especially the more dangerous ones," Rose agreed. After breakfast in the Great Hall, Lily met up with Albus and Bunny.

"Hi, Bunny and Al! Bunny, are you taking your dad's class? What is it like? I want to take Care of Magical Creatures too when I'm in 3rd year too," Lily greeted them eagerly.

"I am taking that class. I like it so far, but I think Divination is my favorite of my new classes," Bunny answered. As they started to head in the direction of Hagrid's hut, James swaggered up to them, and Lily noticed that he looked even more smug than he normally did.

"Hi, James. What are you so happy about? Did you get a special treat from someone?" Lily wondered, unsure as to what he could be so smug about.

"You could say that. Don't worry about the dementors. Your big brother will take care of them for you," James smirked, patting Lily on the head before he strode off, going in the direction of the Whomping Willow.

"T...take care of the...you mean those...things...those things that suck out your soul?! That make you have nightmares when you're awake?!" Albus squeaked, terrified, "He's not going to that...that shack, is he?"

"It's okay, Al. No one's allowed in Hogsmeade today, so he wouldn't be able to get there. And he doesn't even have permission, remember when Dad ripped up his permission slip last year?" Lily reminded him confldently.

"But he might be going anyway! He's going by that tree, the Whomping Willow! Remember what Dad told us? About Remus Lupin? And about how there was a passage in the willow that goes to the shack?!" Albus panicked.

"Well then, I want to follow him! I want to see if that passage is still there!" Lily declared excitedly, "Don't worry, I won't go through the passage if it's there." She then took off for the Whomping Willow, with Albus following her, calling "Please don't get in danger too, Lily!" Bunny watched them run off for a moment, and then she took off in the direction of Hagrid's cabin, knowing that she might need to get someone to help if James really did get into the Shrieking Shack. As Lily got closer to the Shrieking Shack, she saw James stop. He pointed his wand at the tree and before her eyes, the tree stopped moving and a big hole opened up in the bottom of it.

"Wait, James! Don't get your soul sucked out by the dementors! And how did you make the tree stop?!" Lily blurted out as she charged towards him.

"I'm not going to tell you! And you're not going to steal my glory! Go away before I hex both of you!" James snarled, pointing his wand at her face.

"Steal your glory?! What does that have to do with anything?! Why do you even WANT to go by those dementor things?! Even I don't want one for a pet, not after what Rose told me they do to people!" Lily shouted at him, confused and angry as to why her brother was acting this way.

"Shut UP! You're always the center of attention, you freaky little werewolf, and now I'm going to get what I deserve! Chiropterus rhinus!" James yelled, and a blast shot out of his wand and hit Lily in the nose. Lily began sneezing violently, each sneeze producing a herd of tiny bats that flocked around her face, attacking it. James dashed through the hole in the base of the tree and it closed behind him. Lily fell to her knees, screaming and sneezing as she tried to swat the bats away from her face. Albus stood watching her, petrified with fear and horror, and then he screamed as the tree started to move again. Lily barely heard him scream before the willow swung a giant branch down, right on her back. She cried out in pain as it slammed her into the ground, and out the corner of her eye she saw Albus run off, presumably to tell someone what was happening. She tried to roll out of the way, but the willow swung another branch down, this time breaking her arm. A branch then whipped outward, sending Lily tumbling away. She landed face-down in the grass, whimpering and in pain but thankfully out of reach of the Whomping Willow's swinging branches. The Bat-Bogey Hex had stopped as well, but James's look of hatred as he cast the spell was still fresh in Lily's mind.

"He hates me...why? Am I really just a freak?" she whimpered to herself as she heard heavy footsteps approaching. She moved her head slightly and saw two pairs of gigantic feet near her, and she realized that it was probably Hagrid and Bunny.

"Yeh'll be fine, Lily. Madame Pomfrey'll sort yeh right out," Hagrid said gently as he picked her up and carried her into the castle.

Meanwhile, James had reached the end of the passage that led to the Shrieking Shack. He was shocked by the blast of freezing cold air that he felt when he stepped into the shack, and he recalled what Harry had said about dementors and how the first sign of their prescence was a sharp drop in the area's temperature.

"I'll beat you, you evil dementors, and be a hero just like my dad!" he shouted determinedly, and stepped further into the shack. James's resolve began to waver, though. Was he really going to be able to be a hero? Was he even worthy of being Harry's child? Was he even his father true child?

"I am! I really am Harry Potter's son!" he yelled, protesting against the dark thoughts that were seeping into his mind. But he then remembered what others had said. He recalled an unthinking comment Lavender Brown had made when he was 11 and at Diagon Alley, getting ready for his very first year at Hogwarts.

"You know, James doesn't really look much like Harry, does he? A bit like his mum, but you couldn't tell he was a Potter just by looking at him" she had said. And there was that girl on the Hogwarts Express, Strawberry Shortcake, who had also doubted him. She didn't believe him when he had asserted that he in fact was Harry Potter's son.

"Was I adopted?" James whispered to himself in horror as he collapsed to his knees, the dementors coming into the room and floating closer and closer to him. "Maybe I'm not who I think I am. Maybe I'm a fraud. If I was...Dad and Mum don't love me the way they love Albus and Lily. Maybe it's because I'm not their real son." He was so wrapped up in his depressing thoughts that he barely noticed it as a silvery-white toad hopped into the room. But then the toad leapt at the dementors, clearing a bit of the darkness away, and James then saw another silvery-white animal, a Jack Russell terrier, race into the room. He felt a familiar, comforting prescence from the white terrier, as if it was a long-lost family member who had come to protect him.

"Get them all! GO!" a very familiar voice shouted. James peeked up and saw Professor Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley standing in the doorway, pointing their wands at the dementors. The silvery toad and dog smashed into the dementors, chasing them away from the Shrieking Shack, and as the dementors left, the feeling of cold depression lifted slightly from James's mind.

"James?! What the # *& are you doing here?!" Ron swore when he saw his nephew huddled on the floor.

"We shouldn't ask him here, of course. We need to take him straight to Madame Pompfrey," Neville stated. He conjured a stretcher, and both he and Ron levitated James onto it. The two of them carried James out of the shack, not through the Whomping Willow passageway, but out through the front door that led to the main streets of Hogsmeade, the two patronuses flying ahead and chasing off any remaining dementors.

"You're safe now, James. We're going to take you to Madame Pomfrey," Neville said gently as they passed through the streets of Hogsmeade, heading back to the safety of Hogwarts.


	12. Aftereffects

Chapter 12: Aftereffects

On the way through the streets of Hogsmeade, James, Ron and Neville passed by Honeydukes. Ron stopped rather suddenly, looking at the sweet shop.

"We should get some chocolate," he said, in a surprisingly matter-of-fact tone.

"Now? We need to get James to...oh, of course! Yes, go get us all some chocolate, especially for James," Neville suggested, remembering that eating chocolate after a dementor attack often acted as a temporary cure for the depressing feelings caused by those soul-eating monsters. Ron and Neville gently levitated the stretcher onto a bench, which Neville stood next to while Ron went into Honeydukes. After getting the chocolate, the three of them continued to go back to the castle, with the intended destination being the hospital wing, where Lily was currently laying in a bed. Albus was sitting next to her, and Madame Pomfrey was talking to him.

"So what you say happened was that Lily ended up like this because she got in a fight with James by the Whomping Willow?" Pomfrey asked, clarifying.

"Yes. He did Mum's Bat-Bogey Hex on her and then he went into a passage in the Whomping Willow. Then the tree started moving again and it was hitting her. Is someone going to be able to find James? I think that passage goes to the Shrieking Shack, and if he...I know he can be cruel sometimes but he doesn't deserve to have his soul sucked out!" Albus explained, suddenly starting to panic as he realized what might be happening to his brother.

"I should have blocked that passage after Professor Lupin left over 20 years ago," Madame Pomfrey sighed, "I just didn't think that anyone but myself and him knew about it, although when those Death Eaters took over the school in 1997, they did put dementors by the Willow, so one of them might have known about the passage too. That's another question. How did James know to use that passage?"

"Dad told us about it. He said he used it in his 3rd year when he rescued Sirius Black," Albus admitted.

"Yes, I do remember that night. That's why I regret that I didn't close that passage afterwards, since it should have been obvious that others could use it," Pomfrey sighed again, "I don't know what will happen to your brother, though. Hopefully Professor Longbottom and the Aurors sent to deal with the dementors will be able to rescue him." As if on cue, the door to the hospital wing opened. Bridget O'Blarney stepped inside, looking like she had good news.

"I have good news and bad news," she announced, "The good news is that Professor Longbottom and Mr. Weasley were able to fight the dementors and send them far away from Hogsmeade. The bad news is that there was a student in the Shrieking Shack who was badly affected by the dementors. He is being brought into the hospital wing for treatment. They were able to give him some chocolate, so he's already recovering. Albus, I'm sorry to say, but it was your brother James who was found in the Shack."

"I know he was in there. Is he going to get better? Or did the dementors get his soul?" Albus worried.

"I just said he was recovering, so yes, he will. We will also want to know exactly WHY he was in the Shack in the first place, too. Did someone not tell him that no students were allowed to go to Hogsmeade while the dementors were there?" Bridget asked.

"I don't know. I don't think he was ever given permission to go to Hogsmeade, unless Dad changed the rules and got a permission slip signed. He said he was going to fight the dementors and Lily tried to stop him and he got in a fight with her and then he went through the passage. Maybe he wanted to try to be a hero like Dad," Albus answered. During the end of Albus's explanation, Ron and Neville came in, levitating James on the stretcher. James was sitting up on it, eating a big bar of chocolate and looking rather pouty.

"You wanted to be a hero like Harry? Is what your brother says true?" asked Bridget, "Is that why you went to the Shrieking Shack when you knew that dementors were there?"

"What's wrong with that? Dad does dangerous hero things and he gets everyone to love him. Why can't I have that same glory? He doesn't want it anyway," James whined.

"Merlin, it's like looking into a mirror of the past," Ron muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean? I get it, I don't look like Dad! You don't have to rub it in that I take after the Weasley side more," James snapped.

"I'm not talking about your appearance, James. I used to be jealous of Harry too when he and I were your age," Ron admitted, "I understand very well how hard it is to feel like you're being ignored in favor of more accomplished family members, too."

"But then why are you punishing me? Why are you acting like I did something wrong? It's everyone else's fault for ignoring my potential for greatness! And I could have defeated those dementors without your help. I didn't need to be saved by a little toad and a dog," James pouted.

"How did you think you were going to defeat the dementors when you don't even know how to use a patronus charm? Don't lie, we found you on the floor, huddled and full of dark thoughts. They probably would have kissed you if we hadn't come, and a dementor's kiss isn't like a kiss from a human being. A dementor's kiss will suck your soul out of your body," Neville reminded him sternly.

"Fine, I get it! You're great heroes and I'll never be one! Don't blame me, though, blame my brother for looking like a perfect little clone of Dad! I'm sure I would get half the attention and praise HE gets if I looked like Harry too!" James ranted, pointing at Albus angrily.

"Please settle down, James, you need to try to rest. You're just delirious from what the dementors did to you," Madame Pomfrey butted in.

"I am NOT delirious! Just look at him! Albus is a PERFECT CLONE AND I'M NOT!" James shouted, "I WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN, YOU THIEF! YOU STOLE MY GLORY!" Albus backed away, terrified of his raving brother, and then bolted out of the door, wanting to put as much distance between himself and James as possible.

"James. Do you seriously blame your brother? The only reason people might praise him more is simply because he doesn't cause any trouble, unlike you. Trouble like stealing Polyjuice Potion or your dad's invisibility cloak and all the other reasons you have been repeatedly been given detention throughout your stay here at Hogwarts these past three and a half years. If you want to be praised and seen as a hero, then you need to start acting like one," Neville declared.

"Maybe I wouldn't make TROUBLE like you call it if you'd stop putting stupid rules on me and if everyone would stop acting like Albus is so wonderful just because he looks like Dad and talking about it! I don't even deserve to have the same rules as everyone else, I'm Harry Potter's oldest son! I should have special privileges!" James ranted back.

"So you think that you deserve to be special just because of what your father did? That belonging to a certain family makes you better than others?" said a posh-accented voice that James recognized and did not want to hear at this moment. Scorpius Malfoy was standing in the doorway, his hands clenching a package angrily.

"So it's the traitor. You were the one who was so excited to meet me when you found out I was Harry's son. You always said that the Weasleys and Potters were the greatest families. And then you changed and betrayed me," James hissed.

"Because YOU were stealing things and acting like my evil father! It's people like HIM who think they're better than others because of who they're related to! The reason I like the OTHER Weasleys is because the rest of them aren't thieving snobs like you!" Scorpius accused.

"Me? A snob? How dare you! I went out of my way and gave you MY friendship, and you turned it down! You should consider it a privilege that I even talked to you!" James huffed.

"I DID consider it a privilege! When I thought that you were noble like Harry Potter! Because HE doesn't steal things to play stupid tricks on people!" Scorpius ranted back. A loud cracking sound came out of Neville's wand, a sound that James and Scorpius both were familiar with, it being a technique that Neville often used in class to get the attention of rowdy students.

"That is enough from both of you. This is a hospital, Scorpius, there are people in here who need to rest and they cannot do that when you are fighting with James. Did you come in for a reason other than to argue?" Neville demanded.

"I'M SO SORRY! I wanted to give James some chocolate but then I heard him saying evil things but maybe he can't help it and the dementors made him say those things and I'M SO SORRY! I DESERVE TO BE PUNISHED!" Scorpius wailed, sobbing and crumbling to the floor in a ball.

"All you need to do is to leave the hospital wing. James was taken out of the prescence of the dementors in time, and I assure you he is already recovering," Neville said coolly. Scorpius whimpered and then ran out of the hospital wing as fast as he could.

"I said it before, and I'll repeat it again. You need to relax, James. The best way to do that will be to drink this Sleeping Draught," Madame Pomfrey said, bringing out a potion that was in a cup.

"Listen to what she says, James. We'll talk about this later, when you have had time to think about what you have done and your reasons for doing so. We will also decide your punishment later as well. Ron and I need to go back to Hogsmeade to make sure all the dementors are gone and cleared away before the signal can be given to allow people to come back outside," Neville said, and he left the room with Ron. James glared at them and Madame Pomfrey, but took the sleeping potion anyway. Madame Pomfrey looked over at Lily, who was still asleep, and was thankful that the same potion had worked on her as well, so that she did not witness her brother's tantrum.


	13. Hogsmeade and History

Chapter 13: Hogsmeade and History

By Sunday morning, Hogsmeade Village had been inspected and protected during the night, and it was deemed safe and free of dementors. Some of the Aurors would still be patrolling the area, just for protection, but it was happily announced that the students of Hogwarts would be allowed to visit that day. Rigel had still been teaching Scorpius some things about the muggle world in return for information about wizard society, and so he joined Rose, Galaxy and Scorpius as they entered Hogsmeade Village together.

"I would like to go to Honeydukes first, unless either of you have somewhere else you would like to visit," Rose suggested, "Their chocolate is my favorite kind of sweet."

"I love Honeydukes chocolate too! I'm so glad we get to go to Hogsmeade after all, I always love going to fun new places and those mean dementors almost ruined it!" Galaxy exclaimed.

"I'm just glad that Dad and Professor Longbottom were able to get James away from the dementors in time. You do know what they do to people, right?" Rose said, shuddering at the thought of her cousin losing his soul.

"But he was saved, and the dementors are gone, so we have nothing to worry about! It's gonna be no fun if you spend the whole time being afraid of dementors or thinking about things that could have happened but didn't," Galaxy said cheerfully.

"I 'ave a question. Professor Sprite said t' dementors were in t' Shrieking Shack. What is t' Shrieking Shack? 'Ave dementors gone there before?" Rigel asked.

"I don't think it's usually a place that dementors live in. It wouldn't be, because people live in Hogsmeade and then the dementors would be too close to the village and it wouldn't be safe. I think they just wandered in there because of its spooky atmosphere. The Shrieking Shack is an old abandoned building that people used to think was haunted by very noisy ghosts, which is how it got its name. However, it wasn't a ghost that made the howling and screaming noises that used to be heard there, it was Professor Remus Lupin in his werewolf form, over 40 years ago. He hid in there while he was at Hogwarts so that he wouldn't be a danger to the other students," Rose explained as the four of them headed to Honeydukes.

"Why would he need to go all the way to Hogsmeade? Didn't he have that potion Lily uses so that she doesn't attack people?" Scorpius wondered.

"The Wolfsbane Potion wasn't invented until he left Hogwarts, although I think Mum and Dad said that he was able to take it when he taught there later on. Lily and Serena are very lucky that they are able to have that. According to the stories Mum and Dad told me and Hugo, the Whomping Willow was planted over a secret entrance that Lupin used so that he could go to the Shrieking Shack without having to go through the streets of Hogsmeade and risk attacking people there, and the Willow would be there to keep other students from going into the passageway," Rose continued.

"Is that why James knew how to get through the Whomping Willow? Because he heard that story?" Scorpius asked.

"Are you talking about the Shrieking Shack? That's such a tragic place!" exclaimed Melissa Blips, who had happened to overhear some of Rose's tale.

"Why is it tragic? Is it because Lupin had to hide there so he didn't attack people?" Galaxy asked.

"No, Severus Snape died there! It was so tragic, and so, so heroic!" Melissa gushed.

"How did he die? I know it was in the Battle of Hogwarts because his name and portrait are on the Memorial Wall, but no one has ever told me exactly how it happened," Scorpius said.

"Voldemort thought Snape was the master of the Elder Wand, and thought that the only way he could take it from Snape would be by killing Snape. It was so tragic, and the stories I read said that Snape died looking into Harry Potter's eyes because it was his last link to his beloved Lily," Melissa sighed wistfully, "And Voldemort NEVER found out that Snape was a spy, not until Harry told him and revealed Snape's secrets. Which was rude of Harry. It would have been more romantic and fitting for Harry to have kept Snape's secrets a secret forever. But if he had kept it a secret, then I would never have found my true love, my Sevvie-poo, so I forgive him."

"What is t' Elder Wand? Is it something Snape 'ad that someone stole from 'im but Voldemort still thought Snape owned it?" Rigel wondered.

"No, Snape never owned it or even touched it. It's a complicated story, and I don't really want to talk about it right now, and I don't even know all the details. But maybe the library has something about it, and we can look it up together later, Rigel, and I can tell you the parts I know about. There's some things about that story that I don't want too many people knowing about," Rose answered. The truth was, she didn't want too many people to know that her Uncle Harry was the true owner of the Elder Wand. From what she did know about it, if the wrong kind of people found out, they would want to kill Harry in order to master it, and thus she didn't want to talk about it in public where she didn't know who might overhear.

"I thought you said we were going to get chocolates from Honeydukes, anyway! I don't want to think about depressing things like Snape dying, I want to have fun!" Galaxy blurted out, "You know, Rigel, I heard there are sweets at Honeydukes that they don't have on the Hogwarts Express and that are really special and magical and VERY different than any muggle sweets. Then you can learn AND have fun too!"

"May I come too? I heard that they have sweets that are especially for vampires, and I wanted to find those," Melissa said.

"Of course you can! Anyone can come in Honeydukes!" Galaxy said perkily, "Let's go!" Without waiting for anyone else, Galaxy ran off excitedly down the street.

"May I learn about the Elder Wand story too?" Scorpius asked Rose as the two of them and Rigel followed Galaxy at a slower pace.

"Yes, I trust that it would be safe to tell you about it. If you need to know why I'm being so secretive about this, I can at least tell the both of you for now that it is because if too many people knew about it, it could be very dangerous for Uncle Harry and I don't want to give anyone a reason that they might want to hurt him," Rose explained.

"If it would bring harm to Harry Potter in any manner, then I will help you keep it a secret, whatever it is. It's the least I can do for him after he so generously allowed me to stay at his home and didn't hate me for resembling my evil father who brought him so much torment," Scorpius declared.

"Thank you. I know how much you admire Uncle Harry and I know that you would never purposely do anything to harm him, so I trust that you would not use this information against him," Rose said kindly.

Further ahead, Melissa and Galaxy had arrived at Honeydukes.

"There they are! The Blood Pops! Those were the ones I heard were for vampires! I want to get some for my Edward!" Melissa squealed.

"Who's Edward? Do you mean Professor Ted Lupin? He's not a vampire," Galaxy said, confused.

"I mean Rocky Dennison, but I like to think of him as being my Edward because he's just like Edward Cullen! They're both vampires who are kind enough to eat animal blood instead of attacking humans, and if I can't have Snape, then I would want someone who is just like Edward, and Rocky is the closest person I know to being like Edward, who only exists in the wonderful book called Twilight," Melissa explained.

"I've never heard of that book, but I don't read much besides what I'm told to read for class anyway. I was wondering, how did you fall in love with Snape in the first place? Did your parents have him as a professor and did they tell you about him? Were they Slytherins like him?" Galaxy asked.

"No, my mother was in Ravenclaw, but she did have Snape as a teacher. I don't think she talked about him much, I fell in love with my Sevvie-poo from the tragic tales I read about him. My mother has a tragic tale too. Like me, the love of her life died, although she was lucky because she got to know him when he was alive. Do you want to know the story? Scorpius, you might want to know too, because it concerns Harry Potter, who you always say that you admire," Melissa said, noticing that Scorpius, Rose and Rigel had entered the candy shop.

"Does this have to do with the Battle of Hogwarts? Would the person your mother loved be on the Memorial Wall? Is he someone that my evil father was cruel to? Is he someone whose death I must apologize for in place of my cold-hearted family?!" Scorpius cried, becoming more and more hysterical as he spoke, his imagination immediately going to the prospect that this person could have been someone Draco killed as a Death Eater.

"No, it was in the Triwizard Tournament in 1994. My mother was known as Cho Chang back then, and she was in love with Cedric Diggory. He was killed by Voldemort, from what I heard, and my mother still remembers him fondly, though she has found love in my father. I wish she had stayed true to Cedric, it would have been more tragic and romantic if she had stayed loyal to one person, just like Snape always loved Lily and never loved anyone else after she died so heroically," Melissa gushed.

"So does that mean you wish you weren't born? Why would you want your parents to have never fallen in love and given birth to you?" Galaxy wondered.

"True, but it would still be more romantic to only love one person. Just like Sevvie-poo and Edward have their one true loves," Melissa sighed, "I wish I could be like that, but there are so many mysterious and dark, tragic men out there to choose from!" Galaxy stared at her in confusion, not understanding quite what the appeal was for Melissa in these tragic, dark figures she so easily fell in love with. She felt that she would rather be friends with someone who was fun to be around, rather than a gloomy, stern figure like Severus Snape. However, she also knew that she wouldn't want to necessarily avoid those who were suffering from tragedy. Instead, she would still want to befriend them and hopefully be able to help them have some fun and light in their lives again, like how she sometimes wanted to help Scorpius learn to have more fun and stop worrying about turning into Draco so much.


	14. The Rogue Bludgers

Chapter 14: The Rogue Bludgers

On November 23, Rose and the other members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team had their first game of the year, which was against Hufflepuff. When Madame Glitter blew her whistle, Rose took off flying with the rest of the team like she always did, scanning the area to watch for the Bludgers so that she could use her Beater's bat to keep them away from her team. However, while she was watching the Bludgers, she noticed something that she thought was very suspicious.

"We're going to win this easily," said Andrew Simpson cheerfully as he flew up next to her, "I guess even the Bludgers know that Ravenclaw is superior to Hufflepuff." He had noticed the same thing Rose did; the Bludgers were ignoring the Ravenclaw players and concentrating on the Hufflepuff team.

"Or someone could have tampered with them. That happened to my Uncle Harry once," Rose said, worried that someone was trying to interfere with the game.

"Who cares? I play to win, even if it is almost too easy," Andrew shrugged. Rose was uncertain what to do, part of her wanted to help make things more fair for the Hufflepuff team, but she also didn't want to risk getting the rest of the team angry at her for suggesting that they help the opposing team. Rose then heard Madame Glitter blow her whistle, beckoning for both teams to stop playing. She could see the Hufflepuff team captain, Candy Painter, talking to Madame Glitter.

"There's a time-out, Rose. The Hufflepuff team claims that the Bludgers are only chasing after them, and it looks like they're correct," said Amy Zimmerman, the Ravenclaw team captain. Rose gasped in horror when she saw what the Bludgers were doing. They were still chasing after the other six Hufflepuff players, not allowing them to retreat to the ground.

"Should I try to help them?" Rose asked, unsure if it would be allowed for her to try to help protect the Hufflepuff team, at least until the Bludgers stopped acting so strange.

"Get back up there, all of you! The game must go on! You Hufflepuffs can't stop playing just because you're afraid of the Bludgers!" Professor Sapphire Ferny ordered, striding over to where Candy and Madame Glitter were talking.

"Excuse me. I am the official referee of the game, and it defeats the purpose of the game if the Bludgers are only chasing after one of the teams," Madame Glitter said coldly.

"You're just taking their side because you're the Head of Hufflepuff now. It's obvious that your Hufflepuff team is too stupid to think of a strategy to handle the Bludgers," Sapphire sneered. There was a scream from above as one of the Bludgers smashed right into Strawberry Shortcake's broom, breaking it and causing her to slip off. She managed to hang on by one hand, but unfortunately, the part she was holding onto bent down and began to break off more.

"Someone save her!" Rose pleaded, horrified and unsure if she would be able to do anything to help or if she would only make things worse.

"Let her fall. It's her punishment for hating Ravenclaw, and she hates you even more," Andrew said. It was true. Strawberry Shortcake was a 4th year student who didn't interact with Rose much outside of Quidditch games that they both participated in, but Strawberry always made her dislike for the Potter and Weasley families loud and clear. Rose gripped her broom handle and prepared to fly up to the rescue, ignoring Andrew's words, but Madame Glitter was faster and she flew over to Strawberry and caught her, bringing her safely to the ground. Unfortunately, the Bludgers were still a problem. While almost all the Hufflepuff players had gotten off of their brooms and were safely on the ground, the Bludgers ignored that fact. One of them was chasing Vanilla Zabini and Chorlton Zapper, while the other had found a different target. It repeatedly smashed into one of the pillars surrounding the Quidditch pitch, specifically the one that was decorated with Hufflepuff colors of yellow and black.

"This game is over! Everyone leave the stadium and go back into the castle!" Amanda Quigley ordered from her spot in the announcers' booth, her voice magically magnified so that she could be heard by everyone. She ushered Bianca Garbel, her co-announcer, to the ground and led the Slytherin students out. Amethyst Sprite, Teddy Lupin and Neville Longbottom guided the other students out, leaving Demetria Glitter and Bridget O'Blarney to deal with the rogue Bludgers. Rose cast a worried look at the two professors who were flying after the Bludgers to capture them, but she trusted that they could handle it, given that Madame Glitter was a Flying and Quidditch expert and Professor O'Blarney was in charge of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"I know who would want to curse the Hufflepuffs!" Ariel declared as the Ravenclaw students headed back into the castle.

"Who, Severus Snape?! He has nothing to do with this, he's dead! Or are you blaming Daisy again?" Andrew argued.

"It's not him this time! What, you think that I would blame EVERYTHING on Snape?! I bet YOU are the one who enchanted those Bludgers, Andrew Simpson!" Ariel accused, turning around and pointing her finger right at Andrew's face.

"WHAT?! I didn't do that! Why the **** would you think I made the Bludgers do that?!" he shot back, understandably shocked and angry at her sudden accusation.

"Because you were so happy when you saw them attacking the Hufflepuffs. I heard you bragging about how you were going to win so easily, you were telling me that and I heard you tell Candy that too," Ariel said triumphantly, and she turned to Rose, who had been listening quietly, uncertain who to believe. "And I bet he told you too, Rose."

"He did, but that doesn't mean he was the one who cursed the Bludgers. Just because someone is happy about something, it doesn't mean that person is the one who made that thing happen," Rose said.

"Why not? Why don't you think he would be happy that his plan succeeded?" Ariel demanded.

"But I'm NOT happy! First the game gets canceled and now people are accusing me of things I didn't DO!" Andrew shouted.

"Yeah, that's because Madame Glitter foiled your unfair plan! You just wanted to make your Beater job easier!" Ariel continued to accuse.

"But I know a time when my parents had the same idea you do, and they found out that they were wrong the hard way," Rose pleaded, "Ariel, please at least make sure you have more proof before you accuse someone of something that serious."

"Then I'll find out who did it! Because whoever it is will pay for ruining our game!" Ariel declared, "If I need proof, then I need to find clues! If you want to help me, Rose, let's not go back into the castle. Instead, we should check in the place where the Quidditch supplies are stored before the culprit has a chance to hide the evidence."

"Can't you just leave this up to the professors? I don't want to get into any trouble, and it might be dangerous if the Bludgers are still out of control," Rose worried.

"That's not what your parents would have said, Rose Weasley. Didn't they do loads of investigating when they were students here? That was how they defeated Voldemort when he was after the Philospher's Stone, they caught him in the act by going through all those puzzles and obstacles on their own, they didn't just leave it up to the 'professors' to take care of! You and I could do something like that, and we might even get in the Daily Prophet if we uncover something big!" Ariel said, pulling Rose aside from the rest of the students who were going into the castle.

"But we don't know if this is something as serious as when Lord Voldemort was trying to come back to life or if it was just the work of some prankster. I really would rather not get in trouble, I trust that Professor O'Blarney and Madame Glitter can handle this for now," Rose said, resisting Ariel's attempts to pull her back towards the Quidditch pitch.

"Fine, if you don't want to live up to your parents, I can go by myself," Ariel huffed, and she charged off before anyone could stop her. Rose hesitated, unsure what to do. She could simply go back into the castle, but Ariel did have a point. Her parents didn't get to be famous and amazing heroes by staying out of trouble; they often took things into their own hands, even if it meant risking punishment. However, she also knew that in her parents' day, there were the very serious threat that Voldemort could come back to life, and once he did, it was certain that someone would need to fight him. Plus, because he had directly targeted Harry, often her uncle and parents didn't have a choice to avoid danger. Was this incident with the rogue Bludgers a simple prank, or was Ariel correct that it was a sign that something bigger was happening at Hogwarts again? And even if it was, was it right for Rose to get involved herself? Rose was snapped out of her worrying when someone grabbed her hand.

"Rose? What's wrong? Are you afraid to go back into the castle?" asked a familiar voice. Rose turned to see that Scorpius was the person who had taken her hand.

"No, I was just thinking about something Ariel had said to me. She thinks that this might be something bigger than just one ruined Quidditch game, and she wanted me to hep her investigate. I don't want to get in trouble, but I don't want my parents to be disappointed in me. I don't know if they would want me to follow the rules and stay safe, or if they would want me to investigate like they did when they were our age," Rose explained.

"I thought about investigating too, but they told me to go back to the castle and I didn't want to be like my arrogant father who would think that obeying the professors is beneath him," Scorpius said.

"That's probably a good idea. We can just wait and see what Professor O'Blarney finds out. Or I suppose I could send my parents an owl and ask them what they think I should do. If it is a sign of a Dark wizard or witch attacking Hogwarts again, then they should know, since my dad's an Auror," Rose reasoned, and she and Scorpius headed back into Hogwarts castle.

Late that evening, Sapphire Ferny was in his office. He opened a notebook and began to write in it. The notes were written in ancient runes. When translated, the last thing he had written was "Targeting yellow only: a success."


End file.
